Marauders, Magic, and the Moonlight: Year 1
by christylee7663
Summary: In 1971, England, follow Remus Lupin through his challenging first year at Hogwarts. His safe world his family provided for him is turned upside down when he is put in danger by a fearsome foe. Featuring other characters of JK Rowling like James, Sirius, Peter, Severus, and Lily. Year 1 is now complete, but Year 2 is on the way. Please comment what you want to see in the next year.
1. Backstory and the Letter

_Disclaimer: I don't own, nor claim to own the stories and characters invented by J.K. Rowling. This applies to all chapters. Enjoy!_

Chapter 1

His parents had hoped that he would have forgotten that night, he was only five. But now at ten, Remus Lupin still has nightmares reliving the cursed event each night.

May 13th, 1965

It was a peaceful crisp autumn night and the stars were hidden by the powerful glow of the full moon. Remus was asleep in his bed when suddenly around midnight, the malicious werewolf, Fenrir Greyback, powerfully broke through his window. Glass shattered everywhere and Remus woke up screaming. Little Remus looked at Greyback in pure terror and he wet himself.

His body was covered in patches of grey fur and scars. He had the anatomy of a deadly human-wolf crossbreed. His head was a wolf's, equipped with long ears, long canines as sharp as razors, and human eyes. Greyback paused and looked at the trembling boy before him, and smiled before lunging and scratching him across his chest. Remus cried in pain. He lifted his paw, aiming for his neck. Before he released his claws to finish Remus's short life, Remus's father barged in the door and screamed "Confingo" as he discharged his magic from his wand. The force was so powerful that it caused Greyback to fly out the broken window, and ran back into the woods. Mr. Lupin saw his son's injuries and said while holding back his tears "It's all going to be okay my dear boy. Go to sleep. Dormisious"

Remus's childhood was anything but normal, for obvious reasons. To minimize exposure, his family moved to the countryside to North-Eastern England, and his father never reported the incident to the Ministry of Magic. Remus's loving muggle mother home schooled him and his father picked up a muggle job in the mines. He was hardly ever let near other children, as his parents worried he would tell them of his secret. So he past endless days by entertaining himself with reading, writing, and playing the piano.

Every full moon, his parents would lock him in a cellar his father built in the basement, and put a silencing charm on the walls so neighbors wouldn't hear. The mornings after were always the worst part because the beast would leave gashes and bruises over Remus's body. Luckily, his werewolf genes allowed him to heal quicker than a wizard would.

Though Remus's parents couldn't hear his beastly transformation, each full moon night they would lay awake, both silently crying. They knew that were-people were hated and not trusted by the magic community. So, Remus would live a painful life of discrimination. For that reason, they thought it would be best to avoid the wizarding community as a whole, including sending Remus to Hogwarts.

However, Dumbledore was disheartened by this news. He had became aware of Remus's situation because his spies in the werewolf community heard Greyback bragging about his work. So, Dumbledore unexpectedly came to the Lupin household on a cloudy June day of 1971. He walked past Mr. and Mrs. Lupin's who were trying to send him away, and sat with Remus in the living room.

"Dumbledore, please, we are positive that Hogwarts is not the right place for Remus. He's safer here." Mr. Lupin whispered in his ear. Remus however heard every word because of his advanced hearing. He became excited because he once had found his father's picture album from his schooling years. _Oh how I'd love to go to_ _Hogwarts._ He thought

"Mr. Lupin, it is my belief that Remus would love it at Hogwarts, and his education would strive there. Plus I am ready to make accommodations for his transformations." Dumbledore whispered back. Lupin blushed. And his dad froze.

"You. . . know." Mr. Lupin said quietly.

 _"_ Yes. and I'm pretty sure that Remus would appreciate if we stop whispering. You can hear us anyway, right _?"_ Dumbledore still hushed, he and Mr. Lupin turned to Remus. Remus shyly nodded.

"But, it still doesn't seem safe. I mean people are so prejudiced against. . . his people, and if they would find out, they would outcast him and the Ministry of Magic may lock him up." Mr. Lupin said. Remus sighed, _Dad will never let me go._

"They won't find out. Only some highly trusted faculty will know of his condition, and we will trust Remus to not broadcast his condition."

"You said there's somewhere safe for him to transform?" Mrs. Lupins asked nervously.

"Yes, there's a secret tunnel under the whomping willow that leads to a safe room in Hogsmeade. He will have complete privacy. And in the mornings after, we have a nurse to patch him up again." said Dumbledore as he winked at Remus. Mr. and Mrs. Lupin dismissed themselves to their bedroom so they could discuss the matter. _Please Mum and Dad, let me go! I can't spend my entire life locked in a house._

When they returned, Mr. Lupin took a knee before Remus and took his hands. "Well Remus, since you are growing up so fast, you're nearly a man you know, and it's your life, your mother and I think that you should decide."

"Yes, I really do want to go." Remus said immediately.

Dumbledore reached in his robe's pocket and grabbed an ivory letter with a Hogwarts seal on it. "Mr. Remus Lupin, I would like to have the pleasure with presenting you with your acceptance letter into Hogwarts."

Remus felt tears in his eyes "Thank you so much Professor."

 _Author's notes:_

 _7th of August, 2016_

 _Hi, I'm Christylee7663. Thank you so much for reading the first chapter, and thank you for the helpful reviews. If you are first reading this, I promise the plot speeds up, and there will be a lot of conflict happening soon. I just had to put a background story in before the really fun stuff. Also, I finished the entire story so you don't need to worry about being cutoff. I am even working on Year 2 right now, found here: story/story_ =12085254 &chapter=1 Thanks for reading!_


	2. Diagon Alley

Chapter 2: Diagon Alley Welcomes Remus

On a beautiful Saturday Morning in August, Mr. Lupin and Remus took a train down to London to go shopping in Diagon Alley. Remus was confused because his dad took him into the back of a pub that stunk of cigars and stood in front of a brick wall.

"Dad, what are we doing?" Remus asked confused. His dad gave a smug smile and then turned and took out his wand and tapped a few bricks. Suddenly the bricks started to move to create a doorway. Remus's blue eyes widened as he took in the view of the Ally. There were so many shops that were crammed together and stacked on top of eachother. Far down he could see a big and beautiful bank that looked like it was going to fall over.  
"Let's go in the bank first, I have to exchange my muggle money."

When they entered the bank, Mr. Lupin asked that he would sit in the waiting area while he talked to a goblin. He didn't always like to eavesdrop, but he was curious of what they were talking about. He concentrated and tuned his hearing like a radio.

"What do you mean I have insufficient funds? Please, I've been working my arse off in those mines, I know it's not much but it's all we got." His dad's voice said. He heard the goblin's high pitch voice explaining the situation.

 _Oh dad why didn't you say you couldn't afford it. I could have helped somehow._ Remus thought. Suddenly a piercing telephone ring caused Remus to nearly jump out of his skin. "Yes sir… of course sir… this is good news, I'll tell him right away." The goblin hung up the phone. "That was Dumbledore, he said he was aware of your situation and the school covering for all of Remus's expenses. He must be an auror or something if Dumbledore wants him this much. Tell the store owners Tidius sent you."

"Yeah, he's something. Thank you so much sir." Mr. Lupin said.

 _Dumbledore really wants me. This is cush!_ Remus happily stated. He saw his dad smiling and walking toward him.

"Hi son, let's go, I prepaid for everything so we don't need currency" Mr. Lupin said, obviously embarrassed of his financials.

"Thanks, Dad, can I get a wand first."

In Ollivander's, Remus' wand picked him in his first try, a rare occurrence, Mr. Olivander said. It was 14 inches long and was made of cypress with a male unicorn hair as it's core.

"Remus, can you go get your books next door and I'll go get your robes. Wait for me in there to pay, please." His dad politely said. Remus was a bit nervous going alone because he realized it was the first time without a parent. After he picked out his school books, he saw " _Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them_ ", his favorite book. He walked up to it and gently stroked it's spine.

"That's my favorite book. Have you read it?" a small thin boy with long straight black hair said. He was standing with a cute redheaded girl.

"Yes, I read it last summer. Are you two going to Hogwarts?" Remus asked excited, but shyly, realizing these were the first kids he had ever talked to.

"Yes we are both starting this year. I'm Severus and this is my friend Lilly." Severus said.

"Excuse me, best friend!" The girl said lightly

"You're right, this is my best, and only, friend Lilly."

"Remus Lupin. Pleasure to meet you both. You can add me as your friend . . . if you want. I don't have any."

"We surely will." Lilly giggled.

Remus saw his dad waiting outside. "I better go, I'll see you maybe on the train ride?"

"Definitely, you seem like a nice person, Remus." Severus said while giving a smile.

"Bye!" Lilly said

"Hi dad, can I maybe get a pet, please? I think it will teach me responsibility and I promise to take care of it, and it could keep me company." Remus pleaded.

"Okay, son. Pet shop's right here. What kind of animal do you want?" Mr. Lupin asked

"I think a cat!" Remus said excitedly.

A shocked Mr. Lupin pulled him aside and quietly said."Remus do you think that's the best choice. I mean wouldn't you rather have a dog or an owl or anything besides a cat."

"Why, just because I'm a werewolf you think I relate to dogs more? I'm only that thing once a month and I hate everything about it and dogs. Cats are different though, they're independent, intelligent, and calm creatures. That's what I think I relate to more, and that's why I want a cat." Remus said annoyed but calmly and quietly.

"You're right son, I'm sorry. But we don't know if cats like you. Try to hold one." Mr. Lupin seriously suggested.

Remus looked at the cats and instantly connected with a young female black fluffy cat with bright green eyes. He picked him up and the cat started purring and cuddling with him. He gave his dad a smug told-you-so look.

"What are you going to name her?"

"Moonlight." Remus said. Mr. Lupin looked stunned. "For irony dad, she's harmless and a thing that brings me joy while the other moonlight brings me agony. Irony, that's all." Remus said.

"I understand. Let's go home, son. I love you."

"I love you too, dad."


	3. Hogwarts Express

Chapter 3: The Hogwarts Express

September 1st was a warm Friday and the Hogwarts express was scheduled to depart at 11am. Remus and his parents stood with his luggage in platform 9 ¾. His mother cautiously sifted through his luggage and caringly said. "Are you sure you have everything: books, robes, undergarments-"

"Yes Mum! You checked everything three times last night." Remus said with a smile. "I'll be fine. I promise."

"You better write to us every week!" Mr. Lupin said.

"I will."

"Here's Moonlight. Make sure you feed her every night and clean her litter box. I might just miss her more than you." Mrs. Lupin said jokingly.

"Mum!" Remus laughed.

"And if your. . . condition is too overwhelming with school, just let us know, we will drive to Hogwarts to pick you up, no questions asked." Mr. Lupin said sternly. Remus nodded. Suddenly his father pulled Remus in for a hug with his big burly hands. Probably the first hug from his father since he was seven. "I love you so much Remus. I am so proud of you and I know you will be remarkable in Hogwarts." He gently released him.

His mother began to cry big teardrops. She gave him a big hug and kissed him on the forehead. She left a red lipstick kiss, giggled and whipped it off. She gazed into her baby's eyes "I love you sunshine. You are the greatest son a mother could ask for."

"I love you both as well. Thank you so much for letting me attend Hogwarts. I'll see you at Christmas I guess." Remus said trying, but failing, to hold back his tears. He grabbed Moonlight in her crate and stepped up on the platform and took one last look at his loyal parents, waved goodbye and stepped into his independence.

Remus looked in some of the cabins to find Severus and Lily but was interrupted with the announcement "All personal please find a seat, we will be departing shortly." _Aw well, I'm sure I'll meet up with them at school. I'll just have to get to know more people._ Remus came across a cabin with only two boys. One was tall, dark brown messier curly hair with round glasses, and the other had stylish black hair and sharp facial features and normal height. "Hello mate, do you want to sit with us?" The one with glasses asked.

"Sure, I'm Remus Lupin."

"I'm James Potter and this is Sirius Black." The glasses boy said.

"Pleasure. So are you both first years?" Remus asked.

"Yep, and we are ready to conquer Hogwarts with our fantastic practical jokes." Said Sirius.

"Sounds fun." Remus said. He was always a fan of watching pranks.

James stared at his muggle shirt. "What's your shirt about?"

Remus stared blankly "The Beatles." Sirius and James looked at eachother in confusion. "You haven't ever heard of the Beatles?" They shook their heads. "They're the best band ever! They had songs like Twist and Shout, All you Need is Love, and Help. Here, my I recorded some of their songs on this cassette." He played Twist and Shout for them. They all started tapping their feet and smiled.

"I really like this!" James shouted over the music.

"Me too! That's a cool muggle device, are you a muggleborn?" Sirius asked

"No. Half blood. My Dad's a wizard, Mum's a muggle." Remus said.

"Oh too bad. My family are crazy pure-blood purists and I'd just love to make my dad have a heart attack by having a muggleborn friend." Sirius said.

"Your family is crazy. We live on the same street in London, met last year. When his family found out I was a Potter, they didn't let me go to their house anymore. Said my family's "sympathisers to impurity of magic", some bullshit like that." James said.

All of a sudden they heard a squeal from the hallway outside their door. The boys investigated the noise. A boy with blond hair and very expensive looking black clothing had a chubby short boy with blond hair pinned up against the wall with his wand in his face.

"You mudblood filth! How dare you try to ride in the same train as us." a boy named Lucius Malfoy snarled.

"Please, let me go!" The fat boy squealed.

"Hey, how about you let him go, Lucius." James said with his chest held high. He held his wand behind his back in case he needed to use it.

"Mind your own business, Potter!" Lucius growled.

"I think you'll want to let him go, Lucius, for your own sake, or Potter, me and my new friend Remus will kick your ass." Sirius said. He and Potter held up their wands, and looked to Remus to do the same. Remus didn't feel peer-pressured, rather he knew raising his own wand was the right thing to do. Sirius and James smiled.

"Fine, have the little mudblood. Three against one isn't a fair fight anyway, right? See you at Hogwarts." Lucius said reluctantly, pushing the boy to them.

"Come in and sit with us." Remus said.

"Thanks so much blokes! My name's Peter Pettigrew." Peter said, still sweating from fear.

"Welcome to our group, Peter." James said. Remus's cassette was still playing the Beatles.

"Oh The Beatles! I love this band! You're a mudblood too?"

"No halfblood. Don't let anyone ever call you that again, you hear me? Including yourself!" Remus said.

"Okay, Remus, I won't." Peter said. "Is that your cat?"

"Yeah, I guess she can be the fifth of our group. Her name's Moonlight."

"So we want to stay together then?" James asked

"Hell yeah! Together Moonlight, James, Remus, Peter and I, the most handsome, Sirius will haunt Hogwarts with our practical jokes! We will be called. . . Um guys what should we be called?"

"The Pranksters!" James said

"No!"

"The Rascals!" Said Sirius

"No."

"The Jokers?" Suggested Peter.

"No."

The boys sat in silence before Remus had a brilliant idea.

"The Marauders!"

"Yeah that sounds cool, but what does it mean?" Sirius said.

"A group of people who raid and cause a ruckus in the moonlight."

"Cool. Good to know one of us is smart. We will be called (all together now!)" Sirius said signaling the others

"The Marauders!" They all screamed and afterward collapsed in laughter.


	4. Sorting Ceremony

Chapter 4

When they arrived at Hogwarts, Remus couldn't believe his eyes, the castle was so huge. _This is even bigger than Buckingham!_ Remus thought. But as he was gawking at the numerous tall towers, the nearly full moon came into view. Suddenly he was reminded of how different he was. _All these friends that I keep making would never stay with me if they know the truth. I will never tell them. And to think, I finally felt normal on the train ride here, oh foolish Lupin._

"Hi Remus!" Lily said happily, she was standing with Severus before the doors of the castle.

"Hello you two. I'm sorry I didn't sit with you on the train ride, couldn't find you. Are you excited?" Remus asked kindly.

"Yes we are. We were wondering, do you want to be in a study group with us in the library every night at 7?" Severus asked excitedly.

"Sure! That sounds like a great idea!" Remus gladly accepted. He was worried that the marauders would want to spend too much time pranking and not enough time studying- now he could have it all.

A middle aged woman wearing a witches hat and long purple robes came out of the doors. She looked orderly with her black hair pulled tight into a bun. "Hello first year students, welcome to Hogwarts. My name is Professor McGonagall and I teach Transfiguration. Tonight you will brought into the great hall, where we dine, and be sorted into one of four houses. There's Hufflepuff, a house for loyal students, Ravenclaw, a house for very wise students, Slytherin, a house for ambitious students, and Gryffindor a house for the brave. Please follow me."

Remus was walking with Sirius as he said "I hope I don't get into Slytherin. They're also known for being cunning and evil. Plus that's all my family ever was. I would love to see their reaction if I get into Gryffindor!"

"Yeah I hope we all get into Gryffindor!" James said.

Remus thought: _Gryffindor would probably be the best for me too. It wouldn't be good for the first Werewolf of Hogwarts to be in Slytherin._ He caught up to Lily and Severus. "What house do you want to be in, Lily?"

"I don't know, whichever is the best for me, I guess." Lily replied sweetly.

"And I just want to stick with Lily!" Severus said.

"Cush!" Remus said.

The line of young students arrived in the great hall and Professor McGonagall stood next to an old brown wizard's hat. "I will call you in order by your surname. Alice Abbot."

She placed the hat on Alice's head and it shouted "Hufflepuff!" The Hufflepuff's table erupted in applause.

"Narcissa Black" Sirius's cousin

It only took a second on her head before "Slytherin!"

"Sirius Black."

"Oh another Black, I know where to put you Sly-"

"Wait! I don't want to be in Slytherin. I'd like to be in Gryffindor please." Sirius pleaded.

"A Black in Gryffindor? You can't be serious!"

"Actually I am. That's my name." Sirius chuckled at his own joke.

"I can see your bravery, Serious, Gryffindor!" The Gryffindor table applauded and Sirius high fived Peter, James and I as he passed.

"Lily Evan's"

The hat said with confidence "Gryffindor!" Remus gave Lily the thumbs up as she passed.

"Remus Lupin"

Remus nervously sat in the chair and the hat was set on his light brown hair. ` _Ah a werewolf, that's a new one!_ ` The sorting hat said in Lupin's head. _Please don't tell anyone._ Lupin silently pleaded. _Don't worry, child. I see your memories, you are a very strong and brave boy, Mr. Lupin. That will make you a perfect_ "Gryffindor!"

Remus smiled and took his place between Lily and Sirius. As the sorting hat continued, Peter and James in Gryffindor, a small nervous boy with a stutter, Quirinus Quirrell, in Ravenclaw, and Lucius Malfoy in Slytherin. Next was Severus. He looked over to Lilly and waved.

"Slytherin" Severus looked heartbroken and grudgingly walked over to the Slytherin's table.

"Too bad he wasn't in Gryffindor." Lily said sadly.

"Yeah."

"I don't know, he looked pretty evil to me." Sirius laughed.

"Yeah, Severus, more like Sneverus" James stupidly said. Lily looked and Remus shook his head but didn't protest.

"It's okay, we'll still be friends with him." Remus said to Lily.

"And may the feast begin!" Dumbledore boomed. Instantly every food the children could think of appeared before their eyes. Remus and his new friends ate happily and with excitement for the new school year to begin.


	5. First Day of Classes

Chapter 5

 _Glass window shatters_

 _I scream_

 _Claws dig into my chest_

 _Agonizing Pain_

 _Never the same_

Remus woke up suddenly in a pool of his sweat. He feels his chest, the three long scars remain as a constant reminder of what happened. He looks down and realizes Moonlight is curled in a black ball between his legs, instantly, she calms him with her sweet purring. He looks at his watch, 6:30am. His first class starts at 8:30 _I better shower first so no one notices my scars. The less questions the better._

After his shower he splashed his face with cold water enjoying the refreshing and awakening sensation. He then walked into the boy's dorm room. Everyone was sound asleep still. He had an evil, yet brilliant plan. The night before, he was bored so he started studying the lesson for today's class and he learned a spell to levitate an object. What if he Marauder's legacy by pouring a cup of cold water on The bratty Prefect boy they met before, Brian. He got a cup of cold water and laid in his bed and retrieved his wand. He whispered "wingardium leviosa" and waved his wand and the cup floated. He stayed in his bed while directing the cup to Brian's bed across the room. Once it was hovering over his head, he released it and layed back down and pretended to be asleep.

Suddenly Brian broke the peaceful silence of the dorm and screamed "Ahhh!" as he was shocked with icy cold water all over his face. The other boys woke up in confusion.

"Who the bloody hell dumped cold water on me?" Brian screamed. The dorm room erupted in laughter. Brian's face turned tomato red. "When I find out who, they're going to pay for it!" Brian screamed and stormed out of the room.

Peter said "That was brilliant. I wonder who did it?"

"Yeah they should be a marauder." James added.

"They already are." Remus said proudly as he pulled his wand from under his blanket. The boys laughed, and congratulated Remus.

"Come on, we have to get ready for our first class, Charms where you can all learn this little trick I learned last night." He cleared his throat and pointed at James glasses on his nightstand "wingardium leviosa" He levitated his glasses on James' face.

"I guess being a nerd pays off." James said jokingly as he adjusted his glasses.

Charms was lead by Professor Flitwick. He was most impressed with Remus's advanced skill with picking up new charms as well as the levitating. He even earned 15 points for gryffindor for his skills. Snape and Lily congratulated him for being the best in the class and asked for some help.

Next was Transfigurations with Professor Mcgonagall.

"In transfigurations, you will learn to transform objects into another. And possibly with years of experience and practice, you may be able to do this." Suddenly, she transformed into a black and grey cat. The class oohed and applauded as she transformed back. "Now does anyone know what one is called if they can transform into an animal?" _A werewolf?_ Remus asked sarcastically. Lily raised her hand and she was called on.

"A person who possesses the ability to transform into an animal is an animagus, professor."

"Very good, Miss Evans. 10 points to Gryffindor." Ms. McGonagall proudly awarded.

"Wow with you and Remus both on Gryffindor, we'll get the house cup no problem." James smugly said.

"Mr. Potter, don't talk out of turn. 5 points from Gryffindor!" McGonagall snapped.

"I think you spoke too soon." Peter whispered to James.

Lastly was Potions with Mrs. Glauder and Snape loved it. He even earned 15 points to his house Slytherin. They had to try to create something from Unicorn's tail hair, Dragon's scales, lavender, and werewolf's blood. The thought of how they got the werewolf's blood upset and distracted Remus so immensely that he didn't notice his creation was starting to burn and created an awful smell.

"Mr. Lupin, you can stay after class today and clean up your disaster you call a potion." Mrs. Glauder said.

"Don't worry Remus, I'll help you with potions tonight in our study group, and you can help me with charms."

"Thanks, Severus."

After class Remus plugged his nose and cleaned the disgusting potion. He noticed that he started feeling achy and irritable. After he was done, he went on his way to supper when McGonagall bumped into him in the hall.

"Oh hello Mr. Lupin, do you have a second to speak."

"Yes, mam." Remus replied curiously. He followed her into her empty classroom.

"Dumbledore has informed me of your Lycanthropy, and has put me in charge of your transformations at this school starting tomorrow night." She said. Remus sunk down into his chair and put his forehead on the edge of the desk.

"What's the matter dear?" McGonagall concerningly asked. He raised his head and he had tears in his eye.

"I guess I was just having such a great couple of days at Hogwarts that I sort of forgot for a second that I wasn't normal." Remus reflected this thought. "Funny, that's the only time I was ever able to forget." And then Remus Lupin started bawling. Without saying a word, McGonagall sat next to him and warmly hugged his back and let him fall into her lap and he cried. Remus needed her comfort though, for it reminded him of her mother and he felt safe and secure. After a minute of crying, Remus looked up at McGonagall.

"Tell your friends an excuse for tomorrow night and the following day. I will inform your other teachers that you have a prearranged absence. Report here at 6:30 tomorrow night. Bring a change of cloths." McGonagall said.

"Okay. Thanks Professor" Remus said while wiping his eyes. During dinner, the achiness in his body worsened and he had no appetite. He still went to study group and did some homework, but had to leave early because of his huge headache. By eight, he went straight to his bed and layed in his bed. He looked out the window above his bed. The nearly full moon beams shined right onto him and he felt more pain. He covered his face with his blanket and fell asleep to the purrs of Moonlight.


	6. Preparing for the Full Moon

**Chapter 6**

Remus woke up with a pounding headache and every inch of his body aching. Every day of the full moon, all of Remus' senses became overwhelming. Moonlight's soft purring sounded like an old motor obnoxiously running. The early soft glow of sunlight blinded his eyesight like he was looking directly into the sun. Worst off were the smells. He could smell the probably mild body odor coming from each boy's bodies and it smelt like a pile of dirty socks were under his nose. He flipped on his stomach and smothered his head with his pillow and fell back asleep. 30 minutes later Peter gently tapped his shoulder and said his name.

"What?!" Remus snapped and yelled. He scared Peter and he jumped back. Peter looked at his feet and said "Sorry for waking you, but you should get up and come to breakfast with us. He looked over at Sirius and James waiting in the doorway, stunned. Remus sat up and rubbed his head. "I'm sorry guys, I have a really bad sinus headache, I think I'm really sick today."

"It's alright, do you want to skip breakfast?" James asked?

"No! Are you kidding me, I'm starving. Let me just get dressed. And I'll join you." Remus said faking a good attitude.

At breakfast, Remus had a strangely particular appetite for meat. He ate six sticks of bacon, four sausages, salmon, and even steak and eggs. His friends noticed this and were concerned.  
"Hey Remus, you like meat today?"

"Yeah, what's your problem? Are you going to finish that?" Remus replied to Sirius about his ham.

"Go for it." Sirius cautiously said. "Hey James and Peter, can I talk to you for a second over there?" The boys followed him. Remus' sensitive hearing easily picked up the conversation.

"Remus is acting very strange today." Sirius said.

"Trust me, we noticed" Peter said.

"He's so moody and I swear he ate the kitchen's supply of meat." James said.

"He said he had a migraine, maybe meat is his comfort food." Said Sirius.

"Sure, yeah that makes the most sense." James said.

"Just be very nice to him today, he's so irritable." Peter added. The boys walked back to their friend.

 _I can't let them know that I am different today._ "Hi guys, you're all so wonderful, you know what I could go for right now, an apple." He took a big bite of a ruby red apple. His wolf tastebuds hated the taste and wanted to throw up, but he smiled and said "Delicious! Ready for class? _"_ He said being overly peppy. His friends nodded in confusion and walked behind him to class. _Nice going Remus, now they definitely don't know something's up._

In charms, Remus had another wave of an extreme sensory overload. Remus couldn't focus on the professor's voice, only the agonizing scratching of quills while students were writing. When Lily noticed Remus twitching she asked him if he was okay. He quickly and bitterly said "I'm fine, I'm fine." She got the clue to leave him alone after that.

In transfigurations Remus couldn't concentrate either. While trying to do a spell that was supposed to transform a teacup into a saucer, Remus couldn't get it for the life of him. Even Peter got it, and he was the worst in the class. In frustration, Remus instinctively swatted the teacup to the ground, shattering it. The sound sounded like a train crash and Remus covered his ears with his hands and gave a small yelp. The entire class, excluding McGonagall, looked to him in perplexity. Remus was the most mild mannered student in Hogwarts. McGonagall recognized the symptoms right away.

"Mr. Lupin"

Remus looked up in horror of what he had done. He'll never be viewed as normal again. "You have an extreme migraine disorder, correct." She nonverbally gave him the cue to play along. He nodded. "Class every sensation, every noise, every light when you have an extreme migraine disorder is 100 times more extreme. Mr. Lupin, please escort yourself to the infirmary, you are excused from the rest of your classes for the rest of the day and until you get better."

"Thanks, mam." Lupin walked quickly to the hospital wing. Back in the classroom, his concerned friends asked.

"Can we please go check on him?" Sirius asked.

"No! Mr. Black, you and Mr. Lupin's other friends must realize that the last thing he needs is more noise or distractions. You may not visit him until I say he is ready to be visited. Understand?" McGonagall asked.

The class responded "Yes, Professor."

As the hours neared to sunset, Lupin's condition became worse. He could start to feel each bone in his body preparing to transform each sensation being excruciatingly painful. At 6:30, Professor Mcgonagall collected Lupin and brought him outside. She brought him to the back of the school where the whomping willow resided. He watched with a blanket over his body and hands over his ears his Professor calm the wild tree to a halt by touching a spot on it's trunk. She then showed him a small hole in the tree and climbed in with him. The tunnel under the tree was tall and comfortable to walk in. They walked 50 steps until they reached a heavy duty door. She used an old looking key to open it. Inside was a room with a metal safe and a pillow and a blanket.

"Alright Mr. Lupin, tonight, you will transform here. I will come get you in the morning and we will walk back to the hospital wing. You can put your clothing and other valuables in that safe. I'm deeply sorry that you have to go through this every month." She walked out and locked the door. Lupin slowly unbuttoned his robes, put them gently in the safe and waited for the transformation to take place.


	7. September's Full Moon

Chapter 7

 _It will start any minute now._ Remus thought nervously. Time seemed to slowly pass as he looked at his surroundings. The small bedroom looked new. The ivory painted walls were pure and clean. He could still smell the fresh paint. The flooring was oak floorboards, freshly mopped. There was a small bed with a black steel frame, and a brown blanket and pillow, made neatly. _Mrs. Mcgonagall really put in efforts to try to make me comfortable. Too bad most of this stuff will be in shreds by the morning._ He sat on the edge of the bed started to hyperventilate, his breathing became short and quick and experienced a panic attack. He grabbed the brown pillow and hugged it. _Please don't make me transform again._ But the wolf inside of him was done patiently waiting for his freedom from the depths of Remus' soul. Remus felt an intense feeling of pain shoot through his body, like electricity sparking inside of him. As a painful reaction, he tore the pillow in half and white feathers flew everywhere. He screamed and looked to his hands, for he knew they were the first to transform. Grey hairs grew from his skin like barbed wire, drawing blood. Next he felt his fingernails grow rapidly, splitting his delicate finger skin as long black claws grew. He put his hands behind him and grasped the mattress. His powerful grip and claws easily ripped two handfuls of the mattress foam. He yelled a pained yelp, and stood up and leaned against the wall next to the bed. His forehead pushed against the wall as his fists punched it repeatedly. His new claws in the fists caused gashes to open, and blood rushed out. Remus prepared himself for worse.

Suddenly he fell to the ground because his human leg bones and knee caps and legs were replaced with the anatomy of a wolf's leg. He could hear every movement of those bones, followed by the rapid expansion of his vertebrae. He grabbed the steel bed frame and balanced his body against it, as he was pushing his body up, he managed to bend a steel support. Next he felt razor sharp wolf teeth grow in front of his human teeth, cutting open his gums, and dislocating his jaw. He felt his entire face expand into the shape of a muzzle and patches of fur appeared all over his bony body. At this point, his consciousness lost all control of his motor movements. The wolf started wildly scratching at the walls and door, searching for human flesh to devour. Then his vision and consciousness weakened and blurred until Remus Lupin blacked out and the wolf took over his mind as well.

At the next morning's dawn, Professor Mcgonagall and a young pretty nurse named Madam Pomfrey went to the Shrieking shack to retrieve Remus Lupin. When they opened the door, they were horrified to witness a pale Remus sleeping in the fetal position, covered in fresh cuts and bruises from the night before. The room was completely torn apart. The drywall was covered in scratches, some of the floor boards were ripped up, and the bed was broken in two parts. "He must have lost a lot of blood, poor boy. It will take longer than I thought to heal him, even with his werewolf's advanced healing abilities." Ms. Pomfrey said.

"Thank you Ms. Pomfrey. Apparate yourself and Mr. Lupin in the infirmary, and put him in the private recovery room. If any of his friends come to see them, send them away and tell him he's still not well." Mcgonagall instructed. She took a long glance around the room and sighed "I'll take care of the room."

When Remus woke up, he examined his small wounds that covered his body. They were luckily in places like his legs and arms where he could cover with clothing. He noticed his sensitivity to sounds and lights had pleasantly disappeared.

"You know, when we brought you in yesterday, your cuts and bruises were in a much more severe condition. If it weren't for your unique powers to heal, you would probably have to stay here till next week. But you can go if you feel up to it." Ms. Pomfrey said positively to Remus. Remus didn't see her in the chair of the small stone room.

"I was out for a whole day?" Remus said disappointed. He worried that his friends became suspicious of his absence.

"Yes, but Mrs. Mcgonagall already informed your friends with this note that you wrote them." Mrs. Pomfrey gave a note on lined paper for Remus to Examine.

"Dear friends,

Though I am now feeling better, my mother and father picked me up last night to go to a muggle hospital to treat my migraines. They found a slight defect in my brain, but it's treatable with muggle medicine. However, I will need to travel to my doctor every month around this time for medication. I will see you all hopefully tomorrow.

-Remus."

 _A bit robotic, but believable._ "This is perfect, thanks Mrs. Pomfrey. What time is it?"

"18:00. If you haste, you'll be able to eat with your friends today." Mrs. Pompfrey said. Remus got up to leave. "Oh Mr. Lupin." Remus turned to her. "Take this chocolate bar, It may ease your discomfort." Ms. Pomfrey said playfully. Remus smiled curiously and took it and bit into it. _Delicious._ He thanked her and left.

Remus walked into the Great Hall and embarrassedly Sirius screamed. "Hey! Remus' back!" The majority of the Gryffindor table, and some others cheered. Remus took his seat and was greeted warmly.

"Hey, we missed you." Peter said.

"Welcome back to the living, mate!" James said.

"Yeah, we got your note, did they open up that noggin of yours?" Sirius said.

"No, no. They just took a CAT scan and gave me medicine." Remus lied.

"It's good to have you back. You ready to study tonight? Severus and I can catch you up on what you missed. I even took your notes for you." Lilly said.

"Nerds!" James said. Lily rolled her eyes.

"James Potter, you are the most immature and insufferable person I've ever met. Remus, how do you put up with him." Lily asked

"Honestly. . . I don't even know." Remus said jokingly and their group laughed. Once again, Remus felt content and happy with his life. It was always a relief when the full moon ended, because the rest of the month was his to enjoy a normal life.


	8. Marauding

Chapter 8

"Remus, Remus wake up!" James said sharply but hushed. Remus opened his eyes and saw James, Sirius and Peter standing over his bed. They were already dressed in their robes, but it was still very dark. Confused, he looked to his digital alarm clock.

"It's only 4:30am! What are you doing?" Remus grumbled back. He sat up in his bed and rubbed his blue eyes.

"Marauding in the moonlight, come on. Get dressed we'll explain in the common room." Sirius said with a smirk on his face and the boys left Remus alone with the 10 other sleeping boys. Remus silently drapped his clothing over his slender body, and excitedly tiptoed to the common room.

"We made a plan for a hilarious prank when you were gone yesterday." Peter said. James brought out a folded sheet of paper that had messy cursive on it.

"Wake the school with Twist and Shout blasting through the halls." James said. Remus smiled. _That will be excellent!_

"In order to do this though, we need to first stand outside the four Hogwarts house corridors. I will go to Slytherin, Peter will be outside the Hufflepuff, James will go to Ravenclaw, and you can stay here."

"I forgot, what do we do next?" Peter asked. Remus could tell that Peter was very nervous as his entire body was sweating.

"Then at exactly 5:15am, we will point our wands to the ceiling, cover our ears and say the spell we made up last night. "Beatles, we seek out, play us Twist and Shout."" James said.

"This is brilliant." Remus said holding back his laughter. The boys synchronized their watches and deployed to their positions.

Remus looked to his watch. 5:14am. _Hopeful they're actually there and not pulling a prank on me! Shit. Maybe they are. No. I trust my friends._ Remus pointed his slender brown wand to the ceiling and covered his ears. "5:15. Beatles we seek out, play us Twist and shout!" The peaceful silence of Hogwarts was suddenly broken by John, Ringo, George, and Paul's lively beat and electric guitar. He heard some thuds and screams coming from the dorm rooms above him. Remus also heard the echoes coming from the other directions of the school so he knew everyone followed through. Remus smiled and laughed as he lowered his wand letting the song play out. However his joy was quickly turned to fear as he felt an angry hand grasp his shoulder. He turned to see the bratty Gryffindor Prefect, Brian O'Connor, red in the face.

"You're in huge trouble bloke. If you're lucky, you'll be suspended instead of expelled." Brian smugly said. _Oh no, I blew it. I'll be back home with mum in no time._ Remus thought anxiously. Brian then grabbed his ear and pulled him through the halls toward Dumbledore's office. The talking paintings yelled at him and called him a hooligan for waking them up so early. But as they met an intersection of four hallways in the last hallway before dumbledore's office, Remus saw James being pushed by his shoulder by the Ravenclaw Prefect, Sirius practically being dragged by the Slytherin, and Peter frantically begging a girl Hufflepuff Prefect to be forgiven. Once the marauders and the Prefects saw each other, they stopped and laughed hysterically.

"Nice work lads. I think we definitely got these Posh Prefects Twisting and Shouting." James said between chuckles. That made the boys laugh even harder. The Prefects became furiously continued and dragged the laughing boys to the entrance of Dumbledore's office. Professor Mcgonagall was waiting there in her nightgown and cap with her arms crossed and a face like she ate a lemon.

"Gentlemen, do you have any idea how much trouble you are in? You managed to break 5 different rules in the time span of 15 minutes. Prefects, thank you for your service, you may return to bed as I take these . . . marauders to Dumbledore." She growled. The boys didn't say a word and followed her down a flight of stairs. As Remus entered his office, seeing all the books, collectibles, magical objects, and dust he thought what a pack-rat Dumbledore was. In the middle of his clutter, Dumbledore sat in his desk and the boys stood in front of him.

"Professor, these are the culprits of the interruption this morning. Professor Mcgonagall said, still fiery. The boys looked at their shoes, bracing themselves for their punishment.

"I really do like the Beatles, but I wish you would have rather picked "She Loves You" instead. That's my favorite." Dumbledore said with a smile. The boys looked up confused, so did Mcgonagall.

"Sir, these boys broke five school rules." Mcgonagall said questionly.

"Yes, but they were just having a bit of fun, so they won't be suspended or expelled. You can decide how to punish them otherwise." Dumbledore said calmly. Mcgonagall wasn't happy with his decision, but didn't question it.

"You will each lose 10 points from Gryffindor and see me in detention after school today." She scowled at the children. "I am very surprised with each of you. Especially you, Remus. I expected better." Remus hung his head in guilt. He liked Professor Mcgonagall and didn't wish to anger her, but he loved pulling the school's leg.

Then the four were released back to their rooms. When they got into the Gryffindor common room, they laughed.

"That was excellent. We need to plan our next prank right away." Sirius said.

"But you heard how angry professor was. We were almost expelled!" Peter said.

"But we weren't." James added, laughing.

"No offence, but that prank was too sloppy. We were literally caught red-handed. But with me helping to plan the next one, I'll find out a way for us to get away with it." Remus extended his thought. "I am the smart one, remember?" Remus said jokingly.

"Good idea, Remus." Sirius said.

Brian came stomping down the stairs into the common room. "Are you guys packing?" Brian said poshly.

"No, we got off with one detention." James said with a smirk on his face.

Brian's face matched the color of his red hair. "You might have gotten away with it this time, but I'll be watching you four like an owl from now on, so don't you dare try anything!"

"We'll be perfect little wizards, we promise." Sirius said sarcastically. Brian rolled his eyes and stomped away. "Marauders on three. One. Two. Three."

"Marauders!" The boys screamed and laughed. Their long reign of terror on the student body of Hogwarts had only started.


	9. First Exams

Chapter 9

 _Dear Mum and Dad,_

 _My first week of school went very well. I made a bunch of new friends and I am doing well in classes. My friends are Severus and Lily, and Peter, James and Sirius, and they are a great group. My first transformation was on Wednesday and that went as well as I expected. The place is secure and safe, and they let me recover in a private room in the hospital. I had to lie to my friends though, so Professor Mcgonagall wrote a letter in my name saying that I have to visit a muggle hospital with you once a month for checking out a disorder in my brain. I'm having a great time here. How have you been without me? Please write to me as soon as possible, I miss you guys._

 _Love,_

 _Reme._

Remus signed his letter as he was sitting up in his bed.

"Ooh what's that, a letter to your girlfriend?" James said mockingly.

"No just a letter home. Nothing interesting." Remus said trying to seem uninterested. The last thing he needed was James snooping in his conversations. "Sirius, can I borrow your owl, please?"

"Sure. I bet you're regretting getting that cat, right. Useless thing." Sirius mocked at Moonlight. Remus looked down. Moonlight was licking her inner thigh and looked up to Remus with her tongue still out. Moonlight had been there to comfort me whenever I'd been down. Plus, she's the only one there that new his secret.

"No, I love Moonlight." Remus said. He stopped to reflect on that sentence with a smirk. _I'd never thought I would say that in my lifetime._ Remus approached Sirius's black owl, Vladimir, on his perch by the window. His one orange eye contrasted his greasy black feathers. He approached cautiously because he looked very mean. When Remus held up the letter to Vladimir, he bit his hand and blood rushed out.

"Vlad! Don't be a sod! Take the letter to his parents." Sirius commanded. Vlad reluctantly took the letter and disappeared into the darkness.

"Okay, it's almost 7, and tomorrow we have classes again. I'm going to the library." Remus said.

James rolled his eyes and said. "Don't tell me you're still hanging with that brutally annoying redhead and her goth friend, Sneverus. That lad will never get a girl."

Annoyed by James rude comments, "First it's Severus, and Lily's a really great person. Goodnight." Remus snipped back. He angrily walked to the library quickly.

"Okay, so our first exams are on Friday. So I was thinking, we could act as instructors to each other. Since your really excellent in Potions, Severus, you can teach Remus and I. I'll teach transformations, and you can teach charms, Remus. Does that sound good?" Lily asked.

"Yes, but what if we also have some fun while studying." Remus said.

"How so, Lupin?" Snape curiously asked.

"We can have a competition to see who can get the collective highest marks." Remus suggested. He always loved competitions.

"What does the winner get?" Lilly asked excitedly.

"Um… any reasonable, but kind, service from the loser?" Remus proposed.

"Brilliant!" Severus exclaimed.

Throughout the week, the three were perfect students. Remus's teachers noticed this as well. Remus was so focussed on school work that he sort of ignored the Marauders pranks for the week. They each earned so many points for Slytherin and Gryffindor that they broke the record for the most points awarded within one month. Professor Mcgonagall was especially proud of Remus's focus on his studies, and thanked him for not continuing his career as a prankster.

Remus missed being a marauder though. In his absence, the marauders were able to turn every one's drinks into salt water, without being caught on Tuesday night. Also, Sirius snuck into his cousin's, whom he hated, (Narcissa Black), dorm room on Wednesday night and stole her bras and put them on display in the great hall's doorway. However, Narcissa was clever and found out it was Sirius and he got two detentions. Remus promised his friends that he will return to pranking after he wins this bet.

After a long night of studying and cramming the night before the tests, Remus was just leaving the library at 9:30pm, when he saw Peter crying in the corner of a bookshelf. He had a book and notes in his hand and his sobs were thick and ugly. Though Remus wanted to go to sleep, he knew he couldn't leave him there.

"Hey Peter, what's wrong?" Peter said as he knelt down infront of him. Peter looked up and messily sobbed while talking. Remus did his best to translate it to

"I am going to fail the exams tomorrow and be kicked out of Hogwarts because of how stupid I am."

"You are not stupid, and you are not going to fail!" Remus said encouragingly. Peter sniffled and said "I'm not?"

"Of course you're not. I'm going to help you study right now." Remus said slightly disappointed that he was going to lose sleep. Remus went over all his notes and gave Peter memory tricks to remember different spells. Time flew by the two when Remus realized that it was already 12:30am! "Peter, I know you're going to be great. I believe in you."

"Thanks, Remus. You helped me a lot! You should become a professor!" Peter smiled. Remus realized that he wouldn't mind teaching others at all for the rest of his life, but no one would ever hire a werewolf as faculty. The two went to bed.

On Friday, the first-year students nervously took their first test. Remus was feeling very tired, but he didn't let that stop him from doing well. In charms, he knew he got all of the multiple choice test correct. In transformations he was able to easily turn a teacup into a saucer, and many other difficult transformations perfectly. But by his last class, Potions, Remus was very tired and messed up on of the potions on the test. It wouldn't make him fail, but he didn't do as well as he had hoped.

Saturday, the test results were posted. The three competitors walked excitedly to the three different papers with results.

"Alright, first place in charms, Remus! Then me and then Severus." Lily said excitedly.

"Congratulations Remus!" Severus said kindly. "Next Transformations. Lily in first- congrats- then. . . Potter? James Potter got in 2nd!" The three looked at eachother in shock.

All of a sudden James passed by and said mockingly "That's right Sneverus. Looks like I don't need to be a nerd in the library to beat you." and he stepped to talk to Sirius and Peter.

This obviously infuriated Snape. "He's just joking, Severus." Remus said trying to calm him. "Anyway, you got in fourth, and I in third, so it's not bad."

"This is the most embarrassing thing ever, James beat me!" Remus rolled his eyes and read the final list.

"Obviously you're in first in Potions, Lily's in second, and I'm in third. And see that way down near the bottom of the list is James, if that makes you feel better." Remus said comforting him, it didn't.

"So, it looks like I won, Remus you are in second, and this time you're in last, Severus." Lily said, trying to be as kind as possible.

"So what do you want from me." Severus mumbled sadly while looking at his feet. Remus could see tears in his eyes.

"I want you to kiss me." Lily said without hesitation. Severus looked up surprised and was speechless.

"I know it's embarrassing, but I want you to give me a short kiss right now because I haven't kissed a boy yet." Lily said. "I want to see what it feels like."

"Uh, okay." Severus said nervously. Remus watched as he stepped closer to Lily. Lily closed her emerald green eyes and slightly puckered her lips in anticipation. Severus looked to Remus in panic and he gave him a reassuring look and nudged him closer. Severus closed his eyes and kissed Lily's soft pink lips. The two stayed kissing only for a moment until they separated. They both blushed, smiled, and looked away.

Remus stood there awkwardly for a moment until he broke the painful silence by saying, "I'm going to go get a bite to eat with Sirius and them. See you later!" Remus walked away quickly to James across the hall. He looked slightly perplexed.

"Did Lily just let Sneverus kiss her?" James asked.

"Yeah, she won the competition and that's what she wanted." Remus replied. He could see a strange look on James's face and he watched Lily and said "Huh."

"Let's go to lunch, I'm starving!" Sirius yelled.

"Yeah let's celebrate that I actually passed the exams thanks to Remus." Peter added. The boys, smiled and started on their way to the great hall. All were smiling besides James who still held a confused expression on his face.


	10. Flying Lessons

Chapter 10

"Mail's here!" James screamed out as he saw the flock of owls enter the great hall with packages and letters. First came Vladimir. He soared down and landed in front of Sirius. He held two letters in his beak. The first was an ivory envelope with the name Remus J. Lupin written neatly in loopy cursive.

"That's from my mum!" Remus said excitedly as he grabbed for the letter. Vladimir screeched meanly and lunged for Remus's hand. "Bad Vlad!" Sirius yelled and gently grabbed Remus's letter from his beak and handed it to Remus. Remus decided to wait to open it when he was alone. The second letter from Vladimir was an unlabeled blood red envelope.

"Uh oh, that's a howler." James said.

Sirius shrugged and laughed. "I get these all the time from my dad, this should be hilarious." Sirius calmly opened the flap to allow the howler to start. His father's angry voice shouted at Sirius from the letter, forming a mouth.

" _Sirius Draco Black!_ " The letter shouted. The entire great hall stopped eating to listen. Sirius's cousin, Narcissa smiled cunningly and watched from the slytherin table. " _You are a complete disappointment to the Black family. As your cousin reported, you first befriend a Mudblood, then you asked. You Asked to be in Gryffindor! A Black in Gryffindor! Do you know how embarrassing this is? And lastly, you keep on getting detentions for going raiding through your poor cousin's undergarments? When you come home for Christmas, you'll be lucky if you return to school alive! I hate having you as a son!"_ The letter said sharply and ripped itself up. There was complete silence, and Narcissa watched Sirius for his reaction. Instead of crying, Sirius gave out the biggest belly laugh he has ever before. James and Lupin and Peter followed his lead. Soon the entire Great Hall besides the Slytherins erupted in laughter.

"You ready for flying lessons?" James asked eagerly to the boys.

"Yes!" Sirius screamed.

"I don't like heights." Peter whimpered.

"Meh." Remus said impartially.

After Potions class, madam Hooch, the flying instructor at Hogwarts, brought the entire first year class out to the quidditch field. Remus was feeling nervous for flying. He was never a fan of heights. But he didn't look at all as nervous as Peter besides him. He was completely pale in the face and sweating like a leaky cauldron. James and Sirius looked very excited and were gawking at the quidditch ring.

"Alright everyone, step up to the left side of your broomstick. Stick your right hand over the broom and say up." Madam Hooch instructed. Remus watched as James's broom obeyed on his first try. James smiled in pride. Next Lucius Malfoy's sleek and expensive broom came into his hand after the second try, as well as Sirius. Remus looked to his broom clumsily wobbling on the ground, and after his fifth try, it finally obeyed. After about 15 seconds, every student had their broomsticks in their hands but Peter. Madam Hooch thought that his broom from the school might be broken, so she left to retrieve a different broom.

"Is it because you're a filthy mudblood that you can't even control a broom, Pettigrew, or is it because you're just a completely stupid and incompetent student?" Lucius Malfoy mocked to Peter who was standing next to him. Lucius's friends laughed. Peter blushed and looked to his shoes in embarrassment.

"Watch yourself Malfoy!" James said.

"No, I don't think I will. I'm bored, hey lads, do you want to go for a ride?" He asked his friends, they nodded in agreement. Malfoy straddled his broom, forced Peter on the front, and gave a big push and the two were off with his minions behind him. Peter started screaming as they went higher and higher in the air.

"Let him down!" Sirius yelled.

Lucius smirked, "Wrong choice of words, Black! Dormante, catch the mudblood!" Lucius said and quickly did a nosedive so Peter would fall. Peter fell fifteen feet and landed on a large, muscular boy's broomstick.

"Let's leave him on the quidditch ring shall we?" Lucius stated. Dormante obeyed and left him sitting in the 20 meter high ring. They returned to the ground and watched their masterpiece.

"Sirius come one let's save him!" James said as he and Sirius pushed off the ground.

"What should I do?" Remus asked with anxiety.

"Be ready with the wingardium leviosa charm, just in case." Sirius wisely instructed. Remus got out his wand and prepared for the worst.

"Help!" Peter screamed. The two approached him.

"Okay Peter, stay calm. I don't think either one of us is strong nor good enough to carry you down on one broom. But if you hang onto one broom with each arm, it might just work." James said. Peter nodded and took a deep breath. "Okay, grab our brooms on three. Don't look down. One. Two. Three. Now!" Peter bravely grabbed the broom handles, and remained seated on the ring.

"Good. Now we will gently and simultaneously start to float down. You just hold on." James said. He nodded at Sirius and the two pulled Peter away from the ring. They immediately started decending. Peter started kicking and struggling to hold on.

"Hold on Peter, only 10 more meters!" Sirius said. But Peter's sweaty hands caused him to slip from the broomsticks grasp. Lily screamed and dug her face into Severus's shoulder, as he started to fall. But before he hit the ground Remus screamed "Wingardium Leviosa!" and caught Peter one meter from the ground, and set him down. The children cheered for the brave Gryffindor boys.

"What is going on here?!" Madam Hooch screamed.

"Madam Hooch, I was a witness to it all." Lily said. "Lucius called Peter the m-word, then he made him ride on his broomstick with him and left him on the quidditch ring. Luckily James and Sirius retrieved him, but he slipped halfway down. So Remus caught him with wingardium leviosa."

Lucius and his friends looked at each other nervously.

"75 points from Slytherin! And Mr. Malfoy and your hooligans can expect to see me in detention every day this week!" Madam Hooch fumed. "Oh and excellent bravery to the three of you. 25 points each to Gryffindor. Some of you may have what it takes to be on your Quidditch teams one day. If you're interested, come and watch the upperclassmen tryout."

"We will." James said excitedly.


	11. Quidditch Tryouts

Chapter 11

On Saturday, September 25, the boys went to the stands to watch the tryouts. Remus saw Lily and Severus sitting in the grass.

"Do you want to watch the tryouts with Peter and I?" Remus asked. Having nothing better to do, they did. Lily being a bit more excited. The four took their seats next to Professor Mcgonagall.

For tryouts, Madam Hooch had the perspective Gryffindor players form a team and play a mock game against Slytherin. But there were only a few spots open on each team.

As Remus watched it begin, it brought back good memories. In his childhood, his father watched professional quidditch matches on the television all the time, so heknew the rules. They watched as a Gryffindor chaser throw a quaffle through the Slytherin's ring.

"Good job! 10 points to Gryffindor!" Remus shouted excitedly.

"Remus, what's going on?" Severus asked perplexed. Lily and Peter also looked confused.

"That guy's a chaser so his job is trying to throw a ball called a quaffle past the Slytherin's Keeper into those rings to score points." Remus explained. They watched as a a Slytherin chaser approached the ring and was about to throw but he was hit with a bludger by a beater. He was hit right in the back and fell a few meters before regaining control of his broom. "Nice one! He is a Beater. He tries to hit the other team with bludgers before they score." Remus added.

The game continued and at halfway through, Slytherin lead Gryffindor with 40 points to 20. "Now they'll release the snitch and seekers." Remus said. They watched as two people trying out for Gryffindor Seeker chase the tiny golden ball against a person trying out for Slytherin. The second year Gryffindor seeker, Kathryn Domer, raced against the 7th year Gryffindor Seeker, Gan Chang, leaving the Slytherin seeker in their wind. Though Gan put up a good fight, she was able to outfly him and catch the Snitch. She approaches the snitch and quickly grabs it. "50 points to Gryffindor. Gryffindor wins!" Remus yelled, and the rest cheered, but Severus didn't as he didn't care for sports. The players stopped and hovered in front of Madam Hooch and Professor McGonagall.

"Excellent game everyone. If you hear your name, you made it on either the Slytherin or Gryffindor teams. Katelyn Domer, year 2, and Henry Grant, year 4, for Gryffindor, and Vabreca Hazel Year 5, for Slytherin. Thank you." Madam Hooch said and she and Professor McGonagall left. The players who didn't make it returned to the changing rooms disappointed. Remus saw Gan Chang especially disappointed, _he must have tried out each year._

"You were really awesome out there, Katelyn!" Remus said excitedly.

"Thanks, you're Remus, right?"

"Yes, I'm a first year. Do you want to grab some lunch?" Remus asked.

"Sure, I'd love that! Hop on." Katelyn said as she motioned to her broom. Remus gulped and obeyed her instructions and had to hold on tightly as she accelerated very quickly and flew away. James and Sirius chuckled at seeing this.

"Remus has some game!" Sirius said.

"Man, it's freezing out here!" Lily said as she covered her arms. Instinctively, Severus took his jacket and gently placed it over her.

"Thanks, Severus!" Lily said kindly, James's eye twitched at this sight. Oh, it's almost seven, we should get to the library. Lily and Remus got up and left. Severus had a few books to gather before. When Lily was out of eyesight, James took a quaffle that was sitting on the bench and threw it right at Severus's gut. It landed hard and Severus was winded.

"Oops. My bad, Sneverus." James smiled and walked away. Sirius, uncomfortable in the situation, looked to Severus catching his breath in pity, but ran to catch up with James. Severus gave a sigh and ran to catch up with Lily and Remus, too ashamed to tell them what occurred.


	12. Hogsmeade

Chapter 12

Remus Lupin's second full moon was fairly uneventful. He left to his "Doctor's appointment" on Wednesday morning, October 1st. He stayed in the infirmary's private room all day and experienced extremely painful headaches due to sensory overload. He also liked not having to be around his friends during the day because he hates being rude and short-tempered with them. When it came time to go to the transformation room, he was embarrassed because he remembered how he left it such a mess the last time. However, everything was back to order when he arrived. The scratches were even fixed in the furniture and drywall.

"Mcgonagall likes to keep this place clean and without evidence just incase a student wanders down here." Madam Pomfrey said. She stood in the door frame and started to get tears in her eyes. "It will all be over soon." she added in pity. Once the moon rose, the transformation itself was agonizingly the same. And after, Remus was returned to the hospital room and recovered for a day there. On Friday, Remus returned to class and found out that a field trip to Hogsmeade was scheduled for Next Wednesday the 7th.

"Are you as excited as I am Remus?" Sirius asked while laying in their beds late Tuesday night.  
"Of course I am." Remus said while stroking Moonlight underneath her chin. Remus fell asleep, peaceful yet again.

"Right then, if everyone would follow me to the carriages, we will be departing for Hogsmeade any minute." Professor Mcgonagall said to the children, her scottish accent warm to the ears. Remus was walking with Lily and Severus to the horseless black carriages when Severus suddenly stopped with his brown eyes wide, staring at the empty place in front of the carriage. "What is it, Severus?" asked Remus.

"Can't you see them?" questioned Severus.

"See what?" Remus said confused.

"You mean the Thestrals? Remember, they are only visible to those who's seen death." Lily said to Snape. He shrugged and climbed into the carriage. Lily leaned in closer to Remus "He watched his father died during his execution last year after living most of his life in Azkaban." after her explanation, Lily climbed in with Severus and grabbed his hand.

When the class arrived at Hogsmeade, Remus decided to spend the day with the Marauders. Lily decided to join and Severus always went wherever Lily went. After being dismissed from Mrs. Mcgonagall, the six students went to a candy shop named Honeydukes first. James and Sirius both bought chocolate frogs for themselves and Peter and Remus, due to their lack of money. Lily and Severus shared a pink candyfloss, and James saw Lily having fun, and he was jealous. Without anyone seeing, he bought a box of Nosebleed Nougats, and saved them for his evil prank later.

Around lunch, the group stopped at the Hogshead and found a booth to sit in. Remus, Lily and Severus sat on one side, and Peter, Sirius, and James sat on the other, James sitting across from Severus. They ordered food and while waiting Remus overheard a particularly peculiar conversation between the husband and wife sitting behind him. The man was holding a Daily Prophet and on the headliner was on a criminal in trial.

¨Have you heard that the criminal, Fenrir Greyback, is looking at life in Azkaban?¨ the old wizard asked his wife.

¨Itś about time. If it were up to me, Greyback should be killed for what he did.¨ The wife replied.

¨Heś killed, what, over 10 people, and turned countless others.¨ The man shared.

¨I would rather be dead than turned into what he is.¨ His wife replied.

"Me too. Just proves that those beasts werewolves cannot be trusted. Come on, letś go home." The man replied and the two left and left the newspaper on the table. Without his friends noticing, the shocked Remus snatched the newspaper and put it in his bag for later. After the food came, Severus was eating his Shepherdś pie, his favorite, when all of a sudden, his nose started bleeding. Not just bleeding, it gushed out blood. He tried to plug his nose, but failed and blood went all over his clothes and unfortunately on Lily too.

¨Gross Severus! You got it all over my new sweater!¨ Lily said. Remus was curious and confused. He looked to James and he was looking down, trying to hide a smirk.

¨Iḿ sorry, Lily.¨

¨Just go clean it up in the menś room. I´ll go try to save this sweater.¨ Lily snipped at Severus. A disappointed Severus went to the menś room, and a red-faced Lily went to the laddies.

Back at the table, the Marauders sat in silence before James let out a huge cackle.

Confused, Sirius thought for a second before saying. ¨You did that to Sneverus?¨ Barely able to breath between laughs, James nodded. He pulled out the empty box of Nosebleed Nougats.

¨I slipped the entire box in his pie when nobody was looking.¨ James said, still trying to catch his breath from laughing.

Sirius let laugh as well. ¨Brilliant marauding, Mate!¨ Peter, following his peers, chuckled a bit, though he found it mean. Remus sat in silence and looked down at the table for he thought that was over the line, but said nothing because he didn't want to lose his friends.

¨Hey guys, do you want to check out this really cool house I heard some locals talking about?¨ James asked.

¨Yeah, sounds fun.¨ Remus said. They paid and walked for a while to the outskirts of Hogsmeade. They then approached an extremely old house. The black shingles were rotting and falling out, and everything looked like it was going to collapse at any minute. ¨What is this place?¨ Remus asked.

¨It used to be abandoned, but a local said now twice they´ve heard screaming coming from it. They suppose itś majorly haunted. Itś called the shrieking shack.¨ James replied, mesmerized by the legend.

Remusś face whitened and he looked like he was going to barf. _This is the house I transform in._

¨Letś go in.¨ Sirius said. _Oh no, what if Professor didn't clean up yet? They'll find out my secret._

¨But itś haunted.¨ Peter squealed.

¨I guess weĺl find out.¨ James said. Sirius and James started walking toward the house. Peter and Remus didn't move. ¨Come on you puffs.¨

¨Professor said she doesn't want us going in there.¨ Remus said, desperately trying to stop his friends.

¨Remus, when have we ever followed all of Professorś rules? Now come on before I beat your arse.¨ James said threateningly. Remus and Peter followed them, both shaking of fear. They approached the front door and the door handle was locked.

¨Too bad, itś locked. Can we go now?¨ Remus asked.

¨Are you sure youŕe a Gryffindor, coward?¨ Sirius asked jokingly.

¨Alohomora" James said as he waved his wand. The door opened and the dark air was covered with soot. The house was completely abandoned. The boys looked around each room. _As long as they don´t want to see the basement._ Remus thought.

¨Hey I found stairs to the basement!¨ James yelled.

 _Bullocks._ Remusś heart was pounding out of his chest as he took each step to the basement. It was very dark, so James illuminated a lumos spell through his wand.

¨Hey I found a room!¨ Sirius said. Then Remus saw the small hole for the secret tunnel he used to go from Hogwarts, he stood in front of it so no one would see. They opened the door, luckily Mcgonagall cleaned and it looked clean without evidence of a werewolf. ¨Woah. Itś the only room in this house that actually looks nice.¨ James said.

¨Someone must live here.¨ Sirius said.

¨The g-ghost?¨ Peter stammered. He looked petrified.

¨No you idiot. Itś probably someone from Hogsmeade who has loud parties. See, we just disproved the most haunted house in England.¨ James said smugly.

¨Good. Can we go now. Mcgonagall is probably looking for us.¨ Remus said with a giant relief.

¨Sure, sure.¨ Sirius said. Luckily no one saw them coming out of the house, and they were not late to the carriages. Remus sat with Lily and Severus on the way back. Lily was still clearly upset at Severus for ruining her sweater. He felt bad that he didn't stand up to James for being a jerk, but keeping his mouth shut was the only way to keep both friends. Remus remembered he grabbed that newspaper. _When I get back to Hogwarts, I need to research this fellow werewolf, Fenrir Greyback. Maybe his story can unlock the secret of why I was turned into one, for dad always avoided telling me about that night._


	13. Fenrir Greyback

Chapter 13: part one

After looking everywhere in the library for anything on Fenrir Greyback, Remus still couldn't find anything. Then on Friday October 9th, he had an idea. He overheard some seventh years talking about how they sneak into the forbidden section of the library all the time to read books about spells that are deemed too dangerous for children. Though Remus is usually keen on following all rules the school sets, his curiosity about Greyback's story was gnawing at his subconsciousness, desiring to know the truth. He figured if he would wait until 2:30 when everyone is asleep, he would be able to sneak in and out of the library, and no one would notice.

At 2:30am, Saturday, Remus tiptoed past each sleeping boy. Brian's bead was the last before the door and when Remus passed, the floorboard creaked and Brian's loud snoring stopped. Remus stood still, but realized that he was still asleep. So he continued. Remus walked slowly and quietly down the halls, not even waking the paintings. When he arrived at the library, he walked past the student section, straight to the gated forbidden section.

"Alohomora." Remus whispered and the gate opened with a harsh bang. Remus flinched, but he didn't hear anyone coming. He started searching through the books, starting with Gr for Greyback, but he didn't find anything. Then he looked in the We for Werewolf, when he found it. "Werewolf Criminals of the Modern Century. Bingo." Remus hushed to himself. He quickly left with the book and went back to his bed, without being noticed. When he returned, he knew he couldn't wait for morning. He sat in his bed and put his blanket over his head, performed "Lumos Maxima" and opened the book.

 _Gaulden, Grendel, Greyback page 394. Perfect._ Remus turned to the page and was intimidated by the moving picture of Greyback. He had greasy long blond hair, a huge build, a large scar across his face, and sharpened teeth and a horrible grin. Something about his brown eyes seemed so familiar to him. _Fenrir Greyback is alleged to be one of the worst werewolf criminals of the twentieth century. Suspected in multiple cases of murder of children, he was first brought into questioning to the Ministry of Magic: Department of the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures when he a suspect for killing two children, though the Ministry did not know of his condition at that time. However, a worker of the DRC, Lyall Lupin suspected he was guilty of being a werewolf, and should be held until the next full moon, the next night, 13/05/1965_

Remus stopped reading in shock that his father was mentioned, and it was the night of his transformation. _However, Mr. Lupin was the laughing stock of the committee and it angered him and he said "werewolves are a soulless, evil, deserving nothing but death."_ Remus whipped his tears from his eyes. "Does he think that about me?" He took a deep breath and continued reading. _Fenrir was obviously upset at Mr. Lupin's remarks against his kind, but acted innocent to the Ministry, and was released._

 _Today, it is evident that Fenrir Greyback is a serial killer werewolf, according to the many eyewitnesses to his many crimes. He seems to have a fetish with killing children. If you have any information of the whereabouts of Greyback, please contact the Ministry of Magic at 62442._

Remus sat in disbelief. Could it be that his father was the cause of his painful transformations? Remus's anger, confusion and sadness grew as he fetched a quill and parchment from his bag. He wrote a letter to his dad.

 _"Dear father,_

 _I have just finished reading an excerpt from a book that states that in 1965, the year and day I was bitten, you called the werewolf criminal, Fenrir Greyback, and all werewolves a soulless, evil, deserving nothing but death, and he was released from custody._

 _Did you upset Greyback that he put a target on your only son's back? You said my event was random, a werewolf broke into the house. But it is apparent to me that you lied to me, ashamed that you caused your only son to be doomed to a life painful lycanthropy. I need an explanation from you._

 _Remus._

Remus gave the letter to Vladimir and he flew into the darkness. Exhausted, Remus hid the book under his bed and laid down and fell asleep instantly. Remus waited for the next week in anticipation for his father's response, but none came. On Monday the 27th, Remus was summoned to Dumbledore's office in the middle of Transformations. He walked down there, curious to see what he so urgently needed. When he arrived, he saw Dumbledore sitting at his desk, and he was surprised to find his mother and father waiting for him. His mother's eyes were watery and his father looked somehow different. _Funny, the last time I saw my father I thought he was some kind of God, now he looks more like a demon._ Remus didn't say a word to his parents and took the seat in front of Dumbledore's desk.

"Remus, baby, we are so sorry that you had to find out like this." Remus's mother said while kneeling in front of him and grabbed his hand. He kissed it and gave his mother an encouraging look. His father placed his hand on Remus's left shoulder, and he flinched and shook it away.

"Son, what can I do to apologize?" Mr. Lupin said deeply mournful. He looked as if he hadn't slept in weeks.

"You could have told me the truth six years ago, to start." Remus muttered. He looked his father in his eye. "You are not the same man that I left in September. No. You will never be the same in my eye."

Mr. Lupin sniffled and said. "I understand son. To help our closure, I've made arrangements for you and I to attend the trial of that monster. There we will watch as he is sentenced to life in Azkaban for the countless crimes he has committed. We will leave tonight for London, and witness the trial on Wednesday, the 29th."

Remus was both relieved and terrified by this news. "Okay." Remus said meekly.

"Remus, please try to understand why your father lied to you. It kept your condition a secret from the Ministry, letting you live a prejudice free life." Dumbledore told Remus. Remus pondered on this thought and agreed it was best that the Ministry didn't know.  
"But you could have told me." Remus said to his father.

His father took a long breath and said while remaining eye contact with Remus. "My biggest fear after you were bitten that you would one day look at me with the hate in your eyes that you show now. It is as awful than I predicted."

Remus said nothing after that and the pair departed for their trip to London.


	14. Halloween

Chapter 14 When Remus and his father arrived in London on Wednesday, they went to a men's restroom. Remus was very confused. "Just go into a stall and flush yourself down the toilet." Mr. Lupin said. Remus doubted this strange request and watched his father go into the stall in front of them and Remus heard a flush. He pushed the door open and his father was gone. He stepped into the toilet and flushed the handle. He suddenly felt himself being stretched out, spun around, and pulled down the pipes.

He landed in a very large room covered in large tiles of black marble **.** His father was waiting for him. "Come on, we don't want to be late." Remus walked into the large courtroom. There were a lot of reporters there waiting for the trial to start, each with a enchanted quill and notebook, ready to take notes. The wrinkle infested judge walked in followed by the prosecuting team. Finally the defence came in and he could see Greyback, just as terrifying as his picture. The room watched the short-lived trial for it didn't take long to end.

The prosecution had strong evidence for a killing spree of nine children over the last four years, and had evidence of him transforming on the full moon. Disgusted, the jury found him guilty, and the judge sentenced him to life in Azkaban. But as he was being handcuffed, he saw Remus and his father and recognized them. He whispered, knowing Remus was the only one who could hear, _"Remus Lupin, you survived. So you're a werewolf, right? Perfect. Don't worry boy, your suffering won't last long. When I escape from Azkaban, I will end your painful little life first."_ He gave him a sinister smile, the same one as the one when he was scratched six years ago, and the authorities took him away. Remus went pale, terrified by his threats.

"Doesn't it feel better son, having that closure?" Mr. Lupin asked his son as they got up to leave. "Yeah, it does." Remus murmured staley. Remus was still in shock by the events that unfolded within just the last week of his 11 years. In silence, Remus and his dad departed for Hogwarts once again.

Remus arrived at Hogwarts on Halloween night, still motion sick from the car ride, so he went directly to his room, without checking in with the professors. He was still devastated by the threats of Greyback. He felt as if he lost all control of his life, and whatever he knew was all a lie. He knew he had anyone to talk to, and his friends weren't friends at all, merely a mirage to make him feel normal. He needed a way to feel better, and chocolate wouldn't do it.

When he arrived to his dorm, the marauders were there, and happy to see him again. That afternoon, James and Sirius had stolen a six pack of ale from two seventh years.

"Let's get drunk, Sirius. I've never been drunk. Have you?" James said jokingly.

"Never, but we have to sometime." Sirius said while laughing.

"I suppose you two are too good of people to try it? Right?"

"No. I want to get drunk" Remus said.

"What?" James asked.

"I want to get so bloody drunk that I forget everything that happened this week, okay?" Remus shouted.

"Okay. I understand. Peter?"

"I'll keep you in line while sober, thanks!" The three boys locked themselves in he boy's bathroom. And brought the beers in with them. Peter stood out the door on watch for other students and faculty. Remus raised the first bottle of his lips, and let it pour into his mouth while James and Sirius watched in disgust and amazement. Remus thought it tasted terrible, but he didn't care. He just wanted to escape reality. Drinking was always his father's favorite medicine, so Remus thought it would work for him too. He finished the entire bottle and James and Sirius said nothing, extremely uncomfortable by Remus's unexpected behavior, and chugged their own.

After the boys finished their second bottle, around 6pm, they were heavily intoxicated. "You know what us M-Marauders should do?" Sirius slurred.

"What's that, mate?" James said slaphappy. Sirius held up a roll of toilet paper. "We should tipi the Whomping Willow." Sirius said while laughing.

"Okay, why the hell not?" Remus said as he got up. He grabbed a couple rolls and opened the door. "Grab your brooms" Remus said as he grabbed his. He opened the window of the empty dorm room. "What are you guys doing?!" A panicking Peter said as he stepped in front of the window.

"We're tipi-ing the Willow!" James said while laughing. The three mounted their brooms. "You can't fly when drunk! You shouldn't even leave the dorm. You stink of beer!" Peter screamed. "

Either join us, or move out of our way, Peter!" Remus yelled back. While Peter stood, confused at what he should do, Remus, James, and Sirius pushed past him and shakily flew out of the window. Wide eyed, he grabbed his own broom and chased after them, concerned for their safety. It was around sunset and the three very drunk boys arrived at the whomping willow. Peter stood on the ground, having a panic attack and constantly looking for a teacher to come out and bust them.

They started to fly around it, weaving through and dodging the tree's furious branches trying to hit the boys out of the sky. The boys laughed as they threw the toilet paper over the branches, soon the tree was decorated in white strands of toilet paper. The boys landed hard on the grass away from the tree's reach. They burst into drunk laughter. Twilight was amongst them.

Peter ran over to the boys, and screamed "Everyone fly away! Someone's coming!" The boys got on their broomsticks and James, Peter, and Sirius quickly flew away. Remus on the other hand was extremely disoriented. He struggled standing up, and kept on tumbling over. Confused, he looked up to the sky. There, rising over the mountain range was a full, bright full moon.

 _How did I forget that it was a full moon?_ He looked at the shadows approaching him in the darkness. _Shit, I'll murder them! I need to get far away from here._ Remus was able to mount his broom and start frantically flying over the forbidden forest. He had a surge of excruciating pain from his fingers. He looked down, mid flight, and saw claws start to grow. He ignored the painful sensation and kept flying.

 _I have to get as far away as possible._ After he flew about 7 kilometers, He felt his vertebrae start to shift and the bones morphing in his legs. He was unable to keep balance and fell from his broom into the treetops. He landed like a brick into the ground and heard a huge crack from his right leg. He looked down in horror and saw his bloody white Tibia emerging from his hairy werewolf leg.

More electric shocks of pain went soaring through his body. _I'm going to die tonight. Right here in the middle of the dark forest. I was so stupid tonight. I will die a fool._ He laid on the ground, screaming and crying as his awful transformation finished and the consciousness of Remus Lupin dripped away into nothing, and the beast awoke.


	15. The Aftermath

Chapter 15

Remus woke up to a wet, warm, and soft tongue licking him. He slowly opened his eyes and saw a happy but monstrous dog above him. _I'm still alive._ He pet the dog's grey coat. _Thank you for finding me._ He felt his naked and cut open flesh against freshly fallen pine needles. _Where am I?_ He looked around to his surroundings, and didn't recognize anything. He sat up and tried to rise. He had a surge of pain travel through his right leg. He collapsed back on his belly. He looked to his leg, and could see his broken tibia sticking through his shin. Suddenly his stomach twisted in pain and he vomited.

"Well, this must be yur werst moment, ey?" A scratchy low voice came from behind Remus. He turned around in surprise. He was a humongous man with a large stomach, long curly hair, and long brown beard.

"What?" Remus squeaked. He covered his privates in embarrassment.

"Yur out in the middle of the forbidden forest, yur naked, yur bone is sticking out, and it's the morning after the full moon."

 _Oh no. I might have killed someone last night. Even if I didn't, I will be expelled._ "I'm so sorry. I- I" Remus's loss of blood finally caught up with him and he past out. Remus picked up the boy's unconscious body and started making the long journey back to Hogwarts.

When Remus woke up, he was laying on a cozy bed and had a fox skin blanket gently laid over him. He looked to his leg. It already had been put in a cast. He looked to his left, the man from before was sitting on a sofa. Madam Pomphrey and Professor McGonagall were standing in the doorway in silence.

"He's awake." Madam Pomphrey said. She rushed over to his bedside and took his blood pressure.

"Hello Mr. Lupin, I'm happy to see you're alive. Now, do you mind telling us exactly what happened last night?" Professor Mcgonagall said. Her arms were crossed and she was suspicious.

"I-" Remus weakly muttered but was cut off by the man.

"I saw the whole thing with me own two eyes last night, Professor."

"Did you, Hagrid? Please tell us." Mcgonagall said.

"Remus wer going down to the Shrieking Shack when some random hooligans were vandalizing the whomping willow, as you saw last night. Since he could not go into the tunnel without them seeing and being discovered, he was stuck. Worried for the school's lives, he knew he couldn't stay. So he stole one of their brooms and bravely flew as far as he could to save their lives. Risking his own. I went searching with mi mutt, Greg, this morn' and found him 7 kilos in. His broken leg is probably what prevented the werewolf from being able to return to the school. He's a hero, if you ask me." Hagrid told. Remus wasn't sure if that's what he thought what happened, or not, as how believable he was.

"I see . . . you're sure this is what happened?" Mcgonagall asked cautiously.

"I swer it." Hagrid said.

"You are very brave, Mr. Lupin. Thank you for your rash and intelligent behavior." Mcgonagall said, still a trace of doubt was in her tone.

"Well, we will go get a wheelchair for you Mr. Lupin. You will be contained to it for an entire month." Madam Pomphrey said and the two women left Hagrid and Remus alone.

"So you want to tell me why you were such a complete idiot last night?" Hagrid asked with a dead face.

"I just made bad choices." Remus said sadly.

"Bullocks, Remus Lupin. 's way more to this story than some pre-teen angst. Tell me the truth." Hagrid said seriously. Remus looked at him. Obviously this Hagrid knew the truth but he was willing to cover for him in front of Mcgonagall. He felt he could trust him, so remus told Hagrid everything that had happened in that short month, including the terrifying death threats from Greyback. Remus started to cry.

"Now, now. You've been through alot for such a young lad. Yur eyes have seen one decade while yur heart has seen 100. You just need to keep movin'' though. You can't let that monster inside of you eat the goodness of yur soul. Keep bein' a good lad, okay?"

"Okay, Hagrid. Thank you so much." Remus told him.

"Another thing. Keep away from the bottle. It may make you feel better in the moment, but it will eventually destroy your life, and don't be afraid to leave those friends if they become too much." Hagrid advised him.

"Trust me, I will never drink again, and James and Sirius are good for now." Remus replied.

Madam Pomphrey and Mcgonagall returned with a wheel chair. Remus was loaded on it and returned to the same friends, in the same great hall, in the same school, but with a new perspective of life.


	16. First Quidditch Match

**Chapter 16**

"Hey, Remus is alive!" Peter Pettigrew screamed as he saw Remus role into the Great Hall in his wheelchair. He stopped his wheelchair in the entrance as all the eyes of the Great Hall turned to look at him. Remus could hear hushed murmurs gossiping of what could have happened to his casted leg. He wheeled himself to the Gryffindor table in the awkward silence. He rolled into an open spot next to his friends and avoided eye contact with them, still unsure of his explanation.

"I'm so happy to see you, mate!" Peter shouted.

"Enough with the shouting, Peter." James muttered annoyed. He grabbed his head and massaged his messy black hair. Remus looked to Sirius. He had his head buried in his crossed arms, and gave out a moan. _They are so hungover._

"Thanks, Peter." Remus said shily.

"So, are you going to explain why you're a peg-leg now?" James bluntly grumbled.

"Let's go somewhere in private." Remus replied. James pushed Remus's chair into the boy's bathroom.

"What happened to you?" Sirius asked.

 _What should I tell them?_ "I was so bloody drunk that I fell off my broom mid flight and broke my leg. And when I woke up this morning, Pomphrey already put this cast on it."

"What did you tell her what happened?" Peter asked. _Shoot they want details._

"I told her that I was practicing flying because we all know how awful I am at that." Remus chuckled. The boys gave small chuckle as well.

"So she didn't know you were drunk?" James asked concerned.

"No. And I overheard her talking to Mcgonagall and they have no idea who tee-peed the whomping willow."

"Cush! The entire school is talking about who the marauders were who did it." James said. He had a sudden headache and grabbed his head.

"I think we shouldn't drink until our bodies can actually handle it, agreed?" Sirius said.

"Agreed. That was the stupidest decision of my life." Remus laughed.

"I was so worried for you guys last night. You were all crazy." Peter Pettigrew sternly said.

Over the next week, Remus decided to take it easy and focus on his studies, not marauding.

"Hey Severus, can I ask you a question?" Remus asked one night when they were alone in the library. Severus nodded.

"Do you fancy Lily?" Remus asked. Lily and Severus had been particularly close for the last month. Severus looked up in shock.

"No. No. we're just friends." Severus replied, though he wasn't too convincing. Though Remus didn't believe him, he didn't want to pry.

"I think she likes you." Remus said. Severus gave a small smile and the two went back to studying.

The first Saturday of November was the first Quidditch match between Gryffindor and Slytherin. After struggling to get Remus up the stairs, Remus and Peter sat with Lily and Severus in the Gryffindor section of the stadium. Severus' green and white scarf stood out against the hundreds of golden and red apparel. Remus saw Mcgonagall in a haste, frantically talking to different groups of students. She approached Remus's group.

"Remus Lupin!" Mcgonagall yelled. She startled him and he spilt his water on his shirt.

"Yes, mam?" Remus asked.

"We need a student to announce the game. I overheard you explaining Quidditch to your friends in tryouts. Can you please do it?" Professor Mcgonagall asked.

"Sure. Come on guys, we get to sit in the best seats." Remus said excitedly. The six walked, and rolled, to the announcer's table and took a seat. Remus cleared his throat and adjusted the microphone. He looked nervously to Lily and Severus who were sitting very close.

Severus gave an encouraging look and Lily said "You're going to do great Remus!" Remus took a deep breath and said into the microphone.

"Good afternoon everyone and welcome to the first quidditch match between Gryffindor and Slytherin, and here the players come." He watched the green and red athletes fly onto the field.

"On the Gryffindor team, Katelyn Domer, the newest Gryffindor who is playing seeker, is looking pretty." Remus said into the microphone without realizing it. The crowd laughed and Katelyn smiled at him as she pulled her brown-black hair (that was braided into tight marley twists) into a ponytail. James and Sirius nudged him and he blushed. "I meant pretty ready to win..."

"Gross, stop flirting with your girlfriend, Pegleg!" Sirius screamed.

"Moving onto the Slytherin team. They are looking mighty ferocious today. Their new member is Victoria, a fourth year." Remus announced while rolling his eyes at Sirius.

"Players, take your positions." Madame Hooch instructed. The players lined up at the center line. "I want a fair, clean match." She added. She put the silver whistle in her mouth and opened the chest of balls. She released the buckle, blew the whistle and the quaffles and bludgers flew into the air.

"And the game has begun." Remus said into the microphone.

"Tessia grabs the quaffle and passes it to the seventh year, Robert Flaneb, and he passes it to Henry Grant. Grant prepares to throw it into the ring but is, Ooh, hit by a bludger thrown by Slytherin, Maddy Springhetti. Victoria picks up the lost quaffle, dodges a bludger thrown by Reed, and passes it to Grout, and Suzzie Treffle throws it pass the Gryffindor keeper, John Popke, 15 points to Slytherin!" Remus announced in one breath. He looked to Lily and Severus.

"Wow, Remus, you're doing great! I bet you're happy, Severus." Lily exclaimed.

"I don't care for athletics." Snape replied.

"Thanks, Lily." Remus replied. "And we're back to the game." Remus said after the players got reset. "Once again, rookie Victoria takes the quaffle and she and the other chasers make their way to the Gryffindor rings. But look at this! Angie Yazbac hits the quaffle from Victoria's grasp and Robert Flaneb catches it and Gryffindor makes their way to the Slytherin rings. Flaneb throws and it goes through! 10 points to Gryffindor! Nice one, Flaneb!" Remus boomed.

Over the next half, Slytherin and Gryffindor remained neck and neck. Remus watched as Madame Hooch returned to the Quidditch chest and released the snitch. Katelyn and a beastly 7th year seeker flew from the benches and searched for it.

"The golden snitch and the seekers have been released! Meanwhile, Gryffindor and Slytherin remain tied at 50 points." Remus addressed. Katelyn and Crystal flew next to eachother. Katlyn small but athletic frame looked tiny next to the bulging muscles of Crystal. Suddenly, Crystal rammed her into the audience right as they were passing the announcers table. She flew clumsily off her broom and crashed right into Remus, causing his wheelchair to flip backward. He landed hard on his back and Katelyn landed on top of him. She smiled at him. Remus thought she was very pretty. Her eyes were like chocolate chips and glowed against her dark caramel skin tone. Catching Remus by surprise, she gave him a quick kiss on the lips and quickly got up. She grabbed her broom and chased after Crystal and the Snitch.

Remus was still on his back, in complete awe. Severus and Peter got up and helped him up to his wheelchair, his mouth still open.

"So?. . ." Peter piped.

"So . . ." Remus purred.

"Um, Remus, it's great that happened, but don't you have a job to do?" Lily interrupted Remus's silent deep though

"Right. Katlyn and Crystal are chasing after the snitch, but who will get it first?" Remus announced. They watched as Katelyn and Crystal weave through the pillars, and Crysal once again pushed Katelyn away, she spiraled downward. Domante approached the snitch and only was a half-meter away from his hand, but before she grasped it, Katelyn shot upward enraged, and snatched the snitch with a powerful grasp.

"Katelyn caught the snitch! Gryffindor wins the match!" Remus erupted in cheer and the players landed. Sirius and James went over to Katelyn in celebration and lifted her up onto their shoulders. Katelyn looked up to Remus and gave a wide smile. Remus applauded and cheered, excited for the win, and Katelyn's sudden interest in him.


	17. Girls and Boys

**Chapter 17**

In the boy's room one night, Remus read a letter that slide underneath the door addressed to him with hearts drawn over it and the name Remus written neatly in cursive. After reading it, Remus, like the time she first kissed him, was completely surprised and awed by Katelyn's boldness, and sat in contemplation of what to do. James must have seen this look, and became curious and mischievous. He raised his wand and said "wingardium leviosa"

Suddenly, Remus's letter floated from his hands and appeared in James accross the room.

"James, give that back!" Remus said as he got up to snatch the letter. Sirius and Peter got interest in the action and approached James to read the letter as well. Remus approached James but James held out his arm and held Remus's small frame back by pushing on his forehead. Remus frantically started to swing his arms and tried to move James's arm, but it wouldn't budge. James started reading it out loud in a girly high pitched voice.

" _Dear Remus,_

 _I've had a lot of fun with you over the last two weeks. I love when you play the piano and sing for me, and I love giving you flying lessons. You're getting really good by the way, but still not as good as me. (I'm just joking.) I love talking to you until bedtime in the common room, and dreaming about you at night. So, I was wondering would you like to be my boyfriend? (Please check yes or no below)._

 _Your good friend,_

 _Katelyn."_

The boys laughed in complete hysterics. Remus laid down in his bed in embarrassment and turned his back to his friends.

"Oh come on Remus! I know I'd love to be serenaded by you singing and playing the piano as well." James said between laughs. Remus groaned and buried his head deeper into the pillow.

"You should be proud. The first of the Marauders to have a girlfriend!" Sirius added.

"I never said I was going to check yes!" Remus exclaimed as he turned around to face them.

"You should! Katelyn's so cool! Also, when you have a girlfriend, you can go on romantic dates, snuggle, and watch movies together." Peter dreamily imagined. Sirius and James stopped laughing and looked at Peter.

"Peter, isn't there something you have to do?" James said seriously.

"What's that?" Peter said confused. James walked over to the wardrobe and opened it.

"Get in." James explained. Sirius caught on and played along. Peter still not understanding what they meant went into the closet and James closed the doors. Peter started banging on the doors. "Let me out! Let me out!" Peter screamed.

"What's that, you want to come out of the closet?" Sirius asked with a smirk on his face?

"Yes! I want to come out of the closet!" Peter yelled, still pounding on the door. James released the door and Peter came flying out, landing on his elbows. James and Sirius started applauding.

"What was that about?!" Peter asked, angered.

"Congratulations bonny lad!" Sirius enthused

"What?!" Peter agonized.

For finally coming out of the closet, you big puff!" Sirius mocked. James and Sirius laughed uncontrollably, Remus rolled his eyes. Trying to be silent, he slowly got up and grabbed his letter from Jame's bed and headed for the door.

"Oy, Romeo, where do you think you're going. Doth Juliet wait for you on the balcony?" James asked.

"Leave me be, guys. And I'm not going to date her." Remus said quickly.

"And why not?" Peter asked from the ground.

"I mean, I think she is very great, and I love having her as a friend, but I don't want to date anyone right now. She's 12 and I'm only 11!" Remus replied.

"Okay, but she's going to be heart broken." Sirius warned.

"Yeah, she may turn all the girls against you. Even your stupid friend, Evans." James added.

Remus looked down at his note and grabbed a quill and ink, and left to return it underneath the girl's across the hall. When he slide it underneath, he stayed at the side of the door to listen.

"There's a letter by the door." He heard Lily say.

"It's for me! Katelyn screamed and read the note out loud.

 _Dear Katelyn,_

 _I love being your friend as well. Thank you for teaching me how to fly a broom so I don't break my leg again. But I don't want to be your boyfriend. I think you are an amazing person and you are very pretty, but I just don't want to date anyone at my young age._

 _Your friend,_

 _Remus_ "

He then heard silence for what seemed like eternity. Finally he heard sniffles and small whimpering. _I made Katelyn cry. I'm such an awful person._

"Oh, I'm so sorry, Katie!"

"Thanks, Lily. I just really thought he liked me" Katie cried.

Lily sighed. "I understand what you mean. I've been trying to show Severus how I fancy him, but he doesn't seem to get it. I think boys are too immature to possibly care for another person at this age."

Katelyn gave a pitiful sniffle "Yeah, boys are dumb."

Remus, slightly upset by Katie's reaction returned to the dorm and went to bed. The next Tuesday morning, 28/11 was the night before the full moon and Remus could feel it. His senses began to heighten, not too much though, so this day was always pleasant. He felt his strongest and sharpest, until late afternoon. Energized, he got out of bed.

"Good morning, Gryffindor, time to rise out of bed! The sun is out and ready to greet your smiling faces!" Remus shouted through the dorm. He opened the curtains and light shined in.

"Uh Remus, stop with this positivity, it's unsettling." Sirius grunted.

"Plus we are in England, it's never sunny out." Peter added.

Remus just smiled and got ready, enjoying his last bit of happiness before the full moon. He waited as the marauders got ready. They grabbed their books and went down to the great hall. Remus sat down next to Lily and she scuffed and moved to a group of girls, one of them containing Katelyn.

James noticed "I told you mate. Girls are like wolves, hunting in packs. If you anger one, you anger her pack as well."

"Yeah, you'll be lucky if you ever date." Sirius added.


	18. Someone Dies

**Chapter 18**

On the day of the full moon, Remus was on his way to the hospital. He went outside, cutting through the garden, when Katelyn stopped him.

"Hi Katelyn, I have to go to that muggle doctor. I'll catch you tomorrow though." Remus said pained by his headache.

"Wait. I want to give you something." Katelyn said. Her arms wrapped around him and she embraced him. Remus hugged her back. "I understand why you don't want to date me. I hope we still can be friends." Katelyn released him and walked away. He smiled and continued on his way to the hospital.

November's full moon was very normal. Remus visited madam Pomfrey before going to the whomping willow and she took his cast off. He then limped to the shrieking shack and awaited his painful transformation. When he regained consciousness in the morning, Professor Mcgonagall and Madam Pomphrey were waiting for him with ominous stares.

"Remus, how are you this morning?" Madam Pomfrey asked concerned.

"Oh, just peachy." Remus sarcastically said.

"I mean, do you feel any different?" Madam Pomfrey added impatiently.

"No, unfortunately the same agony as ever." Remus said, curious of what was the matter.

Professor Mcgonagall gave a sigh, and took a seat on the tattered bed next to Remus. "Something terrible has happened last night, Remus."

"I know professor, I'm not daft." Remus said kiddingly.

"Please, remain serious, now's not the time for joking." Professor said sternly and Remus gulped. "Last night, a student was killed." Professor sorrowfully added.

Remus's face whitened and tears formed in his eyes. _Did my werewolf escape last night? Did I kill someone? Oh, merlin. I am a murderer._ "How?" Remus stuttered.

"She was outside practicing quidditch after dark, and a werewolf killed her." Professor Mcgonagall said with tears in her eyes. Remus started bawling.

"My child, we are certain it wasn't you!" Mcgonagall exclaimed as she put her arms around his shoulder. Remus looked to her with his wet bright blue eyes. "No, you were locked up the entire night- we made sure of it after last month." Mcgonagall added.

"So what monster did this, then?" Remus sniffled.

"We found this note with the body." Madame Pomphrey said slowly and she pulled out a crumpled piece of parchment covered with blood.

"Read it!" Remus screamed.

" _To a mister Remus Lupin,_

 _My name is Frederick Greyback, the brother of Fenrir. Fenrir told me of how special you are to him, and he still craves your blood as soon as he escapes. But in the meantime, he instructed me to start killing every person you care for until you are left with no one. I am always watching you, that's how I saw your first friend hug you today. You may want to break your friendships - for their sake. I hope we can meet muzzle to muzzle someday._

 _Frederick Greyback."_

Madame Pomphrey said while still shaking.

"Who was the victim?" Remus asked. Professor remained silent. "Who?!" he screamed.

"Katelyn Domer."

"No. No it can't be." Remus shouted.

"I'm afraid it is. The student body will be informed today at breakfast, and a memorial is set for Friday night." Mcgonagall explained while stroking Remus's back. "But we have an important question for you."

Remus looked up. Mcgonagall said with hesitation. "Why is that criminal Fenrir Greyback and his brother so interested in you?"

Remus told them the entire story of when he went to his trial. "She's dead because of me, Professor."

"No, Remus. Listen to this. She's dead because of an evil man, not you." Mcgonagall replied confidently.

"But, you heard what Frederik said- he will not stop killing. I should just go home before anyone else dies by his teeth." Remus said.

"No. Remus. Your house would be far more dangerous than Hogwarts. Teachers will guard the school, enforce a curfew every full moon, and even summon dementors from Azkaban. We will not let Frederik Greyback return to Hogwarts." Mcgonagall said as if she were a general. Remus nodded.

"We should get you up to the hospital, you are covered with bruises and scratches. At least none of your bones were broken" Madame Pomphrey said lightly, but Remus didn't give a smile.

Remus decided to remain in the hospital all week, until her memorial. That Friday night of December, the entire student body gathered in the great hall, dressed in black robes. It was decorated with black silk banners, red and yellow flowers, and a simple silver urn was centered in front. Yellow candles glowed on the mourning students and faculty. Mrs. and Mr. Domer were also there, sitting at the front teacher's table crying into each other's shoulders. Remus sat next to people he didn't know at the back of the Gryffindor table. James and Severus looked at him perplexed.

Dumbledore approached the podium and stared at the silver ern, he began softly speaking into his wand "As we all are aware, young Katelyn Domer's life was tragically taken from her this past Tuesday night. We remember her as an intelligent, compassionate, and happy young woman, as well as an extremely talented Seeker. . . " Dumbledore continued to give a beautiful speech.

The memorial began to end when suddenly Mrs. Domer stood up and raised her wand to her throat and spoke in a raspy tone. "Your professors didn't you want to know this, but it is a necessity that you know the truth of what happened to Katelyn." murmurs rose from the crowed.

"She didn't 'take a deadly fall from her broom, no. She was murdered." Mcgonagall looked to Dumbledore, he gave a gesture to allow it.

"She was murdered by a werewolf!" Mrs. Domer said. She collapsed in tears and Mr. Domer helped her up. The students began to talk nervously and frantically with each other.

"Silence!" Dumbledore screamed. "This is true, but we assure you, no danger remains to anyone else. Now, prefects, please escort your houses back to the dormitories."

"Can you believe it, Remus? A werewolf was at Hogwarts!" Sirius asked when they returned to their bedroom.

"I can." Remus mumbled.

"Hey, I'm sorry that you lost Katelyn. You must be devastated. You two were very close." James said sincerely.

 _Too close. Maybe I should spend less time with people so they aren't targeted next._

"Thanks, James." Remus sincerely replied. Moonlight jumped up on him and he gave her a pat. He turned into his pillow and drifted off into an uncomfortable sleep filled with nightmares of the sinister Frederick Greyback.


	19. First Semester Finals

Chapter 19

On Thursday, December 14th, Remus Lupin, Lily Evans, and Severus Snape were in the library studying for their classes final exams scheduled for the next morning. Remus and Severus were concentrating on a small black cauldron and some ingredients. Remus picked up a vile of red blood and wearily spoke to Severus. "So, to make a Wiggenweld Potion one must first give 10 drops of salamander's blood, heat and stir until it turns orange" Remus added the ingredients and the red mixture turned a neon orange. Severus looked impressed as Remus continued speaking. "Then add 5 spines of lionfish, heat until it turns yellow, add the flobberworm mucus, and then, then. . ." Remus looked panicked and turned to Severus for assistance.

"Shake it until it turns green. . ." Snape said helpfully to Remus.

"Right. Then just add the honeywater until it turns pink." Remus said proudly. He did this and the substance inside the vial turned a bright pink.

"Good work. Now you can use that potion to cure minor injury or awaken someone from an enchanted sleep." Lily added as she walked over to the pair. She picked up the pink vial and examined it closely. "Otherwise, a true love's kiss works too." She said jokingly, and a bit flirty to Severus. She walked away back to her charms book.

"Mate, she totally fancies you." Remus said hushed to Severus. Severus blushed and shook his head. "Come on, I know for a fact she does. Back in November I heard she and . . . Katelyn -Merlin rest her soul. . . talking about how she really fancies you, but she thinks you don't like her." Severus looked at him with hope. "It's almost Christmas. Maybe you can get her something really nice."

"What do girls like?" Severus asked.

"Well a lot of girls like the typical girl gifts - jewelry, perfume, clothes - but Lily is special. She would probably like something sentimental, like a poem or something like that." Remus whispered. He always was very good at picking out gifts.

"Oye, you two, if you plan to beat me in best marks this exam, you'll have to do some studying." Lily yelled jokingly. Remus felt confident on this exam, he was able to put most marauding to the side this quarter and focus on his studies. He decided to once again help Peter who was at the table next to his potion setup. Peter, unsurely took a vial of green liquid and was about to combine it with a yellow vial. Remus noticed this danger.

"Wait, Peter! Don't mix that or else -" Remus said frantically and rushed over to his table, but he was too late and Peter mixed the two. There was a small explosion and green smoke was viciously released into the air, covering the entire library.

"It will explode" Remus mumbled. He began to cough, as did everyone in the library. "Oh, Merlin, that bloody stinks!"

"Anapneo!" Remus heard Lily scream. Suddenly all the green smoke was sucked into her wand.

"Wicked!" Peter said. Severus and Lily glared at Peter. "I'm sorry." Peter said embarrassed.

"Maybe if you spent more time studying and less time trying to gain approval from that arrogant James Potter, you would actually not be so incompetent in the classroom!" Severus snapped. Peter started to cry and ran away.

"Severus! That was rude and cruel. I don't like this side of you at all." Lily said and quickly gathered her things and left, slamming the door of the library behind her.

"You should apologize to Peter and Lily, if you still want her to fancy you." Remus kindly patted Severus on his shoulder and left. Severus brought out parchment and a quill and began writing apology notes, ashamed with how he snapped.

The next morning Remus woke up excitedly. "Wake up! It's final exams day!" Remus said joyfully to his three friends. Sirius moaned and buried his head deeper in his pillow. James gave a huge yawn and stretched his arms into the air. His brown hair was extremely unorderly, resembling a tangled role of yarn, and he put his round golden ringed glasses on his face. "It's okay, we all know I'll get good marks just for showing up."

"Did you even study at all last night?" Remus asked annoyed.

"Nope. Sirius and I planned a perfect little way for Brian over there to start his morning." James chuckled. Remus looked to Brian who was getting up. Remus covered his mouth from exploding into laughter as he saw the monstrosity on the top of his head. Brian ran a hand through his red straight hair and stopped in terror as he felt two giant antlers on each side. He turned a shade of red and the entire dorm room exploded into laughter.

"Whoever did this is going to be beatn' till they're blue!" Brian screamed and locked himself in the bathroom.

"That's perfect!" Peter said while applauding James.

"Come on lads, it's the last exam of Potions, Charms, and Transfiguration this year." Remus said.

"Yeah then we get to look forward to more boring classes after holiday." Sirius grumbled as he got up.

After the exams, the teachers posted the scores early on Friday night at 18:00 outside the doors of the great hall. Severus, Remus, and Lily gathered read the results in anticipation.

"First, Transfigurations: 1st place is Me then Severus then Remus then James in fourth. How is it that narcissist can get good grades?" Lily asked Remus annoyed. James was walking past them while she said this.

"It's a gift, Evans." He said while walking away. Lily rolled her eyes.

"Potions: Severus, Remus, and Lily in third, and Potter in 15th!" Severus said while amplifying his voice in James' direction. James continued walking and raised his arm proudly above his head and gave him two fingers, the v-sign. Severus rolled his eyes.

"And finally Charms. "Remus, Lily, then Severus. Huh, we tied this time." Remus said, relieved at his good marks. "What should we do for the prizes?"

"We should send each other gifts over Christmas." Lily suggested.

"Good idea." Severus said. Remus saw Severus was in deep thought, probably thinking of what to get her.

"Sounds like a plan. Everyone's leaving tomorrow for their homes, I'll write to you both at least once over the next two weeks." Lily said as she skipped away.

"See ya, Severus!" Remus said as he went back up to the Gryffindor common room and began to pack. He promised that he would write to Sirius, James, and Peter over holiday. James even said that he would try to get his parents to allow a sleepover. Christmas was always his favorite time of the year, and this would be the first year celebrating with friends as well as his parents. Remus looked outside to the gently falling snowflakes glowing like stars against the dark blue night sky as they drifted to the ground, illuminated by the half-full moon in the sky.


	20. Christmas

Chapter 20

"Oh Remus, your father and I are just so happy you're home!" Remus's mother said as she hugged him strongly on platform 93/4 . Mr. Lupin smiled to his son and joined the hug. Remus looked over to Sirius and his family. A tall thin woman with wavy black hair and a snarly expression looked down in disgust at Sirius's Gryffindor Scarf. The man she stood next to, also a tall slender black haired man snatched the scarf from around his neck and held it to his side. Sirius tried to retrieve it, but Mr. Black gave a violent wave of his wand and said "incendio" and the scarf ignited in hot yellow flames.

"I'm happy to be home." Remus sincerely replied.

When Remus returned home, he was filled with happy nostalgia. He went up to his room and was delighted to find everything exactly as he left it, including his old keyboard. It was rusted and gave a fuzz when it was turned on. He sat down in front of it and gentilly played a major F chord. He then embarked and played Beethoven's Fur Elise flawlessly. He missed playing piano, he only got to play a few times at Hogwarts. He remembered one November night in particular, when Katelyn first found him playing in the music room.

 _Remus was playing and singing Hey Jude on a huge ivory grand piano, still depressed by the events of Halloween night. Katelyn came in the empty music room, decorated with ivory marble and bronze accents._

 _"You're really good." Katelyn said. Remus was startled and stopped playing and turned around. She was wearing a red sweater and a grey skirt. Her hair was let loose for once and formed a beautiful curly frame around her smiling face. "Please don't stop."_

 _"Sorry - I just usually don't play and sing around others." Remus replied._

 _"Well that's stupid." Katelyn said quickly and bluntly._

 _"Excuse me?" Remus asked shocked._

 _"Pardon me, I just mean if I wouldn't have tried out for the quidditch team because it scares me to perform around others, then I would not be in Gryffindor. So why don't you perform?"_

 _"I-" Remus replied not sure what to say._

 _"See, you don't have an excuse." Katelyn said she marched over and sat next to Remus on the bench. "Well come on, let's be havin' ya." She added motioning to the piano. Remus began to nervously sing again. Katelyn saw this and put her hand on his knee to calm him. Remus relaxed and belted out a beautiful rendition of Hey Jude._ _After he looked to Katelyn's gorgeous smile and felt comfortable with her._

"Remus?" Remus' mother said through the door.

Remus broke his attention of his memory and said "Yes, come in." Mr. and Mrs. Lupin waked in the door and sat on the end of his small brown bed. Remus turned around in his chair to face them.

"So, we need to talk about something." Mr. Lupin said. He handed a newspaper over to Remus to read.

 _Hogwarts Freshman Killed by Werewolf Fugitive, Frederick Greyback._

"Dumbledore informed us of the note he wrote to you, and we are questioning if Hogwarts is the safest place for you." Mr. Lupin explained. Remus started to tear up and looked to the ground in silence.

Mrs Lupin grabbed his hand and said nurturingly. "We understand that that girl must have meant a lot to you, you must have been devastated. But we are a bit confused why you didn't chose to tell us."

"I don't want to leave Hogwarts." Remus sobbed.

"I know you wouldn't but there's a fugitive trying to kill you." Mr. Lupin exclaimed.

"But Hogwarts is the safest place ever. Professor Mcgonagall said that they would have Aurors guarding the school every full moon." Remus frantically testified.

"I'm sorry son, we have already decided, you're staying home for the rest of the year." Mr. Lupin said sternly.

"But what about my friends?" Remus asked.

"You made friends?" Mr. Lupin questioned and Remus nodded.

"Really great friends. There're James, Sirius and Peter, they're all super fun. Also there are Severus and Lily who are very studious." Remus explained.

"Son, you knew coming into school that making friends would be very dangerous with your condition. You didn't tell any of them, did you?" Mr. Lupin said threateningly.

"No of course not!" Remus said.

"Calm down, Lyall! Now there's no reason why you cannot stay friends with them over quill." Mrs. Lupin suggested to Remus, but his heart sank.

"But-" Remus pleaded.

"No buts! You're not returning to Hogwarts ever again!" Mr. Lupin screamed. He left in rage. Mrs. Lupin kissed Remus's forehead and left Remus alone in depression.

On Christmas morning, Remus received a letter or gift from each of his friends. James was visiting America with his family, Severus was grounded by his, and Peter sent a "Happy Hanukkah" card. Lily gave him a hand knitted Gryffindor hat and Sirius gave him a vial of liquid luck that he brewed over break. Remus gave them both a phoenix feather quill that he found outside of dumbledore's office one day, he wished that he could have bought them something nicer, but money was tight at the Lupins, once again. He also sent all his friends that he wouldn't be returning to Hogwarts' for now, and his friends were outraged and confused. Remus didn't know how to explain it so he just ignored the constant owls delivering concerned mail and joined his parents downstairs.

His father cut down a beautiful pine tree from the back woods and brought it inside. They decorated the tree with ornaments and lights. His father even charmed the tree to glow in a rainbow of colors. His mother was mesmerized by this magic and Remus watched in happiness as they kissed underneath a mistletoe they had set up. Remus helped his mother cook a glazed ham and potatoes while his father cleared the thick layer of snow from their driveway. After dinner, they opened gifts. Remus gave his mother and father an enchanted photo album of their family. His mother was enchanted by the beauty.

"You learned how to enchant photos already?" His father asked impressed. Remus nodded. Mr. Lupin gave Mrs. Lupin a new wooden chair that he made himself, and Mrs. Lupin gave Mr. Lupin a new hammer.

"And Remus, your father and I felt very sorry for you for all the struggles you have been through this year, so we got you something a bit bigger than before." Mrs. Lupin said excitedly. Mr. Lupin waved his wand and a brand new keyboard appeared before Remus. Remus's eyes glowed in delight.

"Play us a Christmas tune, would you?" Mr. Lupin asked. Remus played Carol of the Bells and the family sang together in complete holiday happiness.

December's full moon was the 31st , a bitterly cold night. Remus went to the basement to transform. _It seems I haven't been here in forever._ He went through the painful transformation and lost consciousness for an entire day. When he woke up on the 2nd, he was traveling in his father's small blue car. He looked to his mother in the front seat, she was nervously chewing her fingernails and her brown eyes were wide. His father was sweating and he noticed that he was speeding, going 125 kmph in a 110. He also noticed that luggage was stacked and crammed into the small car.

"What's going on?" Remus grumbled.

"Remus, you're awake!" His dad said excitedly.

"Why are we traveling?" Remus asked confused.

"We're moving." Mr. Lupin stated.

"Moving?" Remus questioned  
"Moving back to London." Mr. Lupin expanded.

"But, why?" Remus asked.

His dad pulled over the car and turned to face him and said "On the full moon, while you were, you know, Frederick Greyback tried to attack your mother and me in our bedroom."

"Oh my god, are you both okay?" Remus panicked.

"Yes. I was able to hit him with a stupify and he left before he could reach our bed." Mr. Lupin said confidently.

"And we're moving so he doesn't find us?" Remus asked for clarification. His mother was still biting her nails and staring blankly out the window.

"Yes, and I took my old job back at the Ministry of Magic so I can help to find Greyback. It will help to protect your mother and I from him while you are at school." His father explained. He put the car in drive and started moving again.

"I get to go to Hogwarts?" Remus asked excitedly.

"Yes, your mum and I were wrong. Hogwarts is the safest place for you." Mr. Lupin said a bit weary.

"Thank you so much!" Remus exclaimed. He turned to the window and watched the english countryside glide by.


	21. A Sleepover at the Potter's

Chapter 21

 _Dear Remus,_

 _I am so happy to hear that your parents are allowing you to go back to Hogwarts. I still can't believe that originally they weren't going to let you go just because of a few pranks. Anyway, since you live in London now like the rest of us, would you like to come to a sleepover? It would be on the 5th, the night before the Hogwarts Express leaves. My dad said he could drive us to the platform. Sirius is coming for sure, and I'm pretty sure Peter is too._

 _Best regards,_

 _James_

Remus smiled and asked permission from his mum and dad who were sitting in the tiny apartment living room. The drywall was chipped up, it was always cold, and the neighbors' large rottweiler never stopped barking, but it was home. His parents agreed to let Remus attend as they would both be busy that Friday anyway with work - his mother picked up another car saleswoman job. Remus wrote back to James, excitedly accepting his invitation.

On that Friday, Remus took the tube to the nicer part of London with his luggage for Hogwarts. Moonlight calmly slept in her kennel as he walked to a fancy suburb with huge houses and rows of very nice town houses. Finally he arrived at James's house and it was one of the biggest. Remus looked in awe at the clean white siding and the huge garden surrounding the house. He pushed his cart and knocked on the chestnut front door. A tall average sized man answered. He had a strong chin, round glasses, and messy black hair. He looked exactly as James would look in thirty years. He smiled and looked down at Remus.

"Hello, you must be Remus. I'm Fleamont Potter." He held out a hand to give a friendly handshake. Remus shook his hand.

"Yes, sir. I'm Remus Lupin."

"Enough with the _sir_ nonsence. Please call me Fleamont." Fleamont instructed and Remus nodded shyly. Then a beautiful redheaded woman turned the corner. "Hello, Euphemia. This is Remus Lupin.

"Hello dear. Fleamont, stop scaring the boy and let him in." She teased. Fleamont took his luggage and Euphemia guided Remus through the long halls to the billiard room where Sirius and James were playing pool.

"Remus!" Sirius screamed. Mrs. Potter said goodbye and left.

"Hi guys." Remus smiled.

"I'm so happy you could come! Peter is on his way, he should be here by lunch." James explained. He lined up a shot and managed to get 5 balls to go into the socket in one shot.

"You cheated!" Sirius screamed.

"Yeah." James smirked as he held up his wand from under the table.

"I'm going to shove that wand up your nose!" Sirius yelled, he lunged at James.

"You better run, James." Remus said jokingly, but James was too slow and was soon pinned to the floor by Sirius. Remus laughed and played along and counted the pin.

"Mercy, mercy!" James screamed through his crumpled up body. Sirius released. James caught his breath and lied on the floor. And Peter came through the door with Mrs. Potter.

"Hey, Pete!" Sirius and Remus said together.

"Hey lads. James you alright?" Peter asked.

"Just dandy. Hey I'd almost forgotten, I bought souvenirs from America!" James said as he jumped to his feet. The boys ran to his enormous bedroom that was decorated in red and gold. James opened a suitcase and pulled out different candy bars and sodas.

"I bought candy bars called a Tootsie Roll, Fun Dip, and Good and Plenty, and a soda called Coca Cola." James explained. The boys tried each one and were overwhelmed with sugary deliciousness.

"What did you do in America?" Remus asked. He had never been outside of England before.

"We visited the wizard museum for the Salem Witch Trials, took a tour of the Magical Congress of the United States of America, and viewed American muggles in New York." James explained.

"Cool!" Peter said.

"Yeah, do you guys want to play a quick game of quidditch in the garden?"

"I hardly see how that's fair for Peter and I." Remus pointed out.

"We'll both take one of you on our own team, you can be keepers, just as long as I get Remus." James said.

"Fine." Sirius mumbled, trying not to show his disappointment to Peter. James grabbed four brooms from his closet and they headed outside.

"Won't people see us?" Peter asked.

"Not at all. My house is invisible to any muggle. And the wizards around here don't mind. My dad and I play all the time." James stated.

Remus flew in front of a ring that James had set up. He watched as Peter did the same on the other side of the garden. He still didn't get the hang of flying yet, though he had lessons every Friday at Hogwarts. James and Sirius met in the middle and Fleamont released the quaffle from the ground. James caught it and moved tword Peter's goal, but Sirius grabbed it and quickly proceeded tword Remus. He threw it and Remus was able to block it.

"Nice one, Remus!" James said as he grabbed the ball and flew to Peter and threw it hard. Peter flew away in fear and the ball easily made it through the ring. Sirius rolled his eyes and the game continued. After 15 minutes of James and Remus leading SIrius and Peter by a lot, they decided to call it. The boys had burgers that Fleamont cooked on the grill, a taste the Potters fancied in America, and stayed up late watching movies and playing video games.

The next morning, the boys went on the Hogwarts Express and slept the entire ride because they were so exhausted. When they arrived at Hogwarts, Remus caught up with Severus and Lily. He found out that Severus gave Lily a locket that a moving picture of her and Severus laughing together and she wouldn't stop touching it in amazement. James saw this and he looked very jealous. Remus thanked his friends for the awesome gifts and friendly letters when he thought he wasn't coming back. He was thankful that he had the opportunity to go back to his favorite place in the world.


	22. Second Semester

Chapter 22:

January 8th was the first day of the new semester, bringing three new classes to Remus's schedule: Astronomy, Herbology, And Defence Against the Dark Arts. Remus went to Astronomy first thing in the morning and met his professor, Esteban Francesco Estrella, a very young transfered teacher from the Brazilian school, Castelobruxo. He had strong dark eyes, was very muscular, and had a thick but perfectly understandable accent.

"Now class, Astronomy as we all know is the study of the universe. To start out our class, let's have a pop quiz. Each question right gives the student's house 10 points. First, what was the date and which famous American Muggle first landed on the moon very recently?" He asked as he leaned against the large telescope. Lily Evans, who was standing next to Remus and Severus, raised her hand quickly. Estrella called on her.

"Neil Armstrong was the first person to walk on the moon on July twentieth, 1969, Professor."

"Very good, Ms. Evans. 10 points to Gryffindor. Second, how many planets are there in our solar system?" Mr. Estrella asked. Severus raised his hand and said nine.

"Correct. 10 to Slytherin. Finally a difficult one, how many days are there between full moons and when is the next one expected?" He asked. The children looked at each other, dumbfounded, but Remus raised his hand.

"The time interval between similar lunar phases— rather the synodic month—averages about 29.53 days. The next full moon will be on January the 29th." Remus said quickly and factually. It wasn't until after he'd finished that he realized that he shouldn't have spoken. Everyone looked at him in awe.

"Someone did their homework before class. Very good Mr. Lupin, 50 points." The young professor said and he began his lecture.

James leaned over and whispered "Remus, how on earth did you know that?"

Being quick on his feet, Remus jokingly replied "I actually do something called studying, unlike you."

In Herbology Remus practically slept through the boring lecture lead by Professor Sprouse. Peter was the only one who found a liking to it besides the Hufflepuffs. He even earned 15 points to Gryffindor for perfectly transplanting a screaming Mandrake Root. As Remus was nodding off asleep, Severus made a white lily grow gave it to Lily. She smiled and kissed his cheek. James saw this and while holding back his vomit, he whispered a hex and a bee suddenly flew out of the center of the flower while Lily was smelling it and it stung her on the nose. She screamed and a large red mark appeared on her nose. Severus tried to apologize, thinking he made something went wrong, but she threw the flower at his feet and ran out of the class. Remus and Severus looked at eachother confused at what just occurred, while James and Sirius silently chuckled to each other.

After Herbology the first years went to Defence Against the Dark Arts with Professor Malfoy, the head of the Slytherin house and Lucius's uncle. _Great._ Remus thought sarcastically. He had long white-blonde hair pulled back into a low ponytail, and he wore all black clothing.

"The dark arts are a powerful magic not to be taken lightly or foolishly. If one makes a mistake while trying to defend themselves from a dark spell, casualties and fatalities will occur and blood will be on their hands. I will teach you to control these dark powers and use them to your advantage against your adversaries." Professor Malfoy said in a posh and crisp accent. James who was sitting next to Remus looked down and gave a chuckle. Mr. Malfoy's head snapped in their direction. "Is something amusing about my lecture, Mr. Potter?"

James gulped. "No, sir."

"Good because we have serious material to learn today. Usually we don't teach you first years about this subject until late in year three, but certain circumstances have risen and Dumbledore and I feel it is necessary to prepare you for the worst. Turn to page 394." He said coldly. Remus did as he was told and was shocked to find the title of the chapter to be " _Werewolves"_. He knew that Professor Malfoy did not know about his condition. His parents made Dumbledore promise that only he, Mcgonagall, and Pomphrey would be made aware. _But they must want to teach students defense against werewolves incase Frederick would ever get to them._

"Now, Lucius, my intelligent nephew, please explain to the class what a werewolf is." Professor smiled at his nephew.

"A werewolf is a beast who looks like a person for most of the month, but transforms into a hideous wolf-human hybrid every full moon, hungary for human flesh to devour. They are dangerous and can transfer their disease by a bite or a scratch to any innocent human - making them untrustable - and should all be registered with the Ministry of Magic." Lucius said smugly. _What a completely arrogant, bigoted, prejudices definition._

"Perfect. 50 points to Slytherin." Mr. Malfoy said proudly. "Now, what would you do in this situation . . . Mr. Lupin, ah yes Mr. Lupin, we haven't heard from you yet." Mr. Malfoy said while he and the class turned their attention to him. He swallowed.

"You are taking a stroll outside on a full moon-" Mr. Malfoy said and Remus silently thought:

 _I wouldn't exactly call it 'taking a stroll - more like scratching and biting my skin off in the shrieking shack - but please continue. This should be good._

" - when you hear a frantic beast approaching you quickly and angrily through the bushes. You retrieve your wand and prepare to cast a curse in defence. Which curse would you cast?" The professor asked pompously. He was obviously trying to embarrass Remus because most first years don't know any curses yet.

His father had taught him a few defensive spells already. "Well, I would probably attempt to hit 'im with a powerful stupefy stunning spell, but would probably fail seeing as I'm only a first year and that's a challenging spell. If that failed, then I'd run as fast as I could to an experienced adult such as yourself to get away from that 'beast'."

Mr. Malfoy was obviously upset that his plan to humiliate did not work so he plainly said "Correct. Everyone use your text to write a five page report of how to identify a werewolf in human form, and research other advanced spells one could use in defence if they were to encounter one." Remus smiled and started his assignment, appreciating the irony of the situation.


	23. A Lucky Game of Quidditch

Chapter 23

In the fourth week of January, classes have been going swell for Remus and the other first years. The friday night before the full moon was Gryffindor's second match since the tragic death of Katelyn Domer. Madam Hooch chose a 7th year, Gan Chang, to take her spot. He had tried out every single year, but never made it due to he always choked in tryouts. He didn't look like a 7th year though, rather he had a very scrawny frame that made him blend in with the younger students. The first game he unfortunately choked and lost the game, the Gryffindor team and Remus worried that this would repeat. However, the morning of the game, Remus remembered that he still had the vial of liquid luck from Sirius. He mixed it with some water and went into the boy's locker room and found Isamu.

"Hello, Gan." Remus said with a smile.

"Hi, Remus. Why are you here, don't you have to announce?" Gan gloomily said.

"I came to talk to you. I know you'll do great today." Remus encouraged.

"Ha, ya right. You don't have to lie to me, I know I'll choke like always."

"That's not true!" Remus exclaimed.

"Yeah I will. You know what's ironic? My name. Do you happen to know the Chinese meaning of my name?" Gan asked.

"I can't say I do." Remus confessed.

"It means "the daring one". What a joke. Every time I'm in front of a crowd, I turn into a complete coward. My parents moved to Britain when I was only a baby and expected some big hero so they named their only son Gan, and he turned to be a coward. They'll be watching me in the audience for the first time ever today, and I'll shame them." Gan vented.

"I know for a fact that this will be the best game ever for you. You should drink this, stay hydrated before the game." Remus said as he gave the bottle to Gan. He thanked him and drank the entire bottle. "I have to go to announce. Good luck, Gan." Remus smiled.

"Welcome witches and wizards to a very special quidditch match between Ravenclaw and Gryffindor. It is special because tonight is Parent's Night." Remus said into the microphone. He looked to his right and saw the Changs who were smiling and cheering. The players gathered and Madam Hooch released the balls. Ravenclaw's team was made up of all very well trained 5th, 6th, and 7th years who looked like giants compared to the younger Gryffindor team.

Flaneb tried to retrieve the quaffle but was hit by a wild bludger sent by the 7th year, Tessa Lopez. "Ravenclaw makes their way down the field and - 10 points to Ravenclaw." Remus announced Ravenclaw parents and students erupted in cheers. By halfway through the game, Ravenclaw had 60 points and Gryffindor only 10. Remus and Gryffindor started to worry and a blizzard seekers and the snitch were released and the Changs cheered for Gan. Remus could see the Gryffindor team collectively gulp, but Gan Chang raced to the snitch and followed it effortlessly through the snow. Remus saw he and the Ravenclaw seeker follow it high up into the clouds until they could not be seen. They disappeared for a full 10 minutes before the stadium started to panick. Suddenly a broomstick came crashing down to the earth and stuck straight up in the ground. The stadium screamed and Mcgonagall paused the game. "Everyone please remain calm." Remus pleaded into the microphone.

"We have to go up there." Flaneb, the captain, and Potke, the keeper, said.

"Don't you dare, Flaneb! It is a suicide mission." Madame Hooch said. She grabbed her broom and was about to push off from the ground when suddenly a black spot was seen in the sky, descending quickly to the ground.

"Oh my god!" Lily said next to Remus.

Mrs. Chang screamed. "He's going to crash!" The body came flying down but suddenly a person on a broom swooped and caught the flying player from the sky. The two came down and Remus could see the hero was Gan Chang. He landed on the field and lifted the 7th year Ravenclaw, Jennifer Wegner, gently onto the ground covered with snow. Her lifeless body suddenly jerked awake and she coughed and hugged him.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, Gan Chang has saved Jennifer Wegner." Remus announced into the microphone. Madam Hooch, Madam Pomfrey, and Professor Mcgonagall ran out to the pair on the field. The crowd erupted in cheer. Remus saw Gan talking with Hooch and reached into his pocket and pulled out the golden snitch.

"Gan Chang has also caught the golden snitch, giving Gryffindor the win!" The entire stadium, even the Ravenclaws, erupted in applause once again. John Potke, and Robert Flaneb went and lifted Gan Chang on their shoulders and flew him around the stadium. They stopped in front of the parents section and Mr. and Mrs. Chang embraced their son warmly.

"Congratulations, mates." Remus said as he walked over to the Gryffindor team.

"We really didn't do anything. Gan Chang was our hero tonight!" Flaneb said. Jennifer Wegner flew up to the stands next to Gan.

"I just wanted to say thank you for saving my life back there. I lost consciousness mid flight. I think you're a really great guy and I'd love to spend more time with you."

"Would you like to go to the Hogs Head in Hogsmeade with me this weekend?" Gan asked nervously.

"I'd love to!" Jennifer said as she flew into his arms. She looked into his eyes and Remus could see that they had an instant connection. Suddenly they closed their eyes and kissed. James and Sirius cheered and the entire Gryffindor section joined them. Even the shocked Changs applauded. Remus smiled to himself, proud that he gave his liquid luck to someone who really deserved it.


	24. Marauding on Valentine's Day

Chapter 24

 _Dear Mum and Dad,_

 _I'm sorry that it has been a while since I wrote to you, my new classes have been pretty wicked. I found out that I absolutely love Defense Against the Dark Arts, though the teacher is awful. I think he has hated me ever since I dominated his precious nephew in a practice duel two weeks ago. He madly sent bluebell flames at my face so I gave him a dancing charm and a tickling charm. Professor Malfoy took 40 points away from Gryffindor because he said that "I wasn't respecting the serious purpose of the practice duels." That's okay, I made everyone besides the Malfoys laugh hysterically._

 _Also, the first full moon with the new Aurors went very well last week. Dumbledore said to me that they scared Frederic Greyback away, and he would probably not dare to return. My full moon went really well too - I only got 9 new scratches compared to the average 21. Is everything going well at your new jobs? Have you any new information of the location of Frederick Greyback, Dad? Did that dog ever stop barking? Please let me know as soon as possible._

 _Love,_

 _Remus._

Remus gave Vladimir the letter and flew out the window that Moonlight was looking out of. It was a snowy Thursday morning, the 12th day of February, at Hogwarts. He joined his friends in the Gryffindor common room by the fireplace, they seemed to be excitedly discussing something.

"Remus, Remus, you came just in time." James said quickly.

"Time for what?" Remus suspiciously questioned.

"To help us plan our biggest marauding adventure yet!" James enthused.

"Oh, no, no, no. My marauding days are behind me. Plus what could top ti-ping the whomping willow, panty raiding Narcissa, turing all drinks to salt water, or waking up the entire school?" Remus asked skeptically.

"Well we know that the Valentine's' day dance is on Saturday night, right?" Sirius asked. Remus nodded.

"All the teenage hormones and romance will be in the air." James added.

"Where are you two going with this?" Remus asked curiously. James pulled out a medium sized bag that clanked when he set it down in front of Remus. Remus pulled out a bottle and read " _love potion"._ "What are you going to do with 20 bottles of love potion?"

"Spike the punch!" James said while laughing.

"Why? So you'll have a bunch of people more in love and happy?" Remus snarked.

"There's more." James said.

"When everyone's had the love potion punch, they'll want to kiss the first person they see." Sirius said.

"So?" Remus asked

"So, we then would say the charm, "Epoximise", and everyone kissing would be stuck together for a long time." James said and he, Peter, and Sirius erupted into laughter.

"That sounds very funny, but also a very good way to get expelled." Remus said concerned.

"We won't get expelled because we won't get caught." James said arrogantly.

"What do you mean, James? Once Mcgonagall sees us casting the charm, she'll expel us immediately.

"Mcgonagall won't see us, no one will see us." James said. Remus looked confused and James calmly grabbed the red blanket lying next to him and put it over his head. Suddenly, James disappeared.

"An invisibility cloak!" Remus yelled.

"Yep. It's a late Christmas present from my dad. He said it's because of my good grades in school." Remus heard his voice say from somewhere. "With this thing, we will be able to play any prank and get away with it."

"Are your 'marauding days still over', Remus?" Sirius asked.

"Not even close!" Remus replied.

On Valentine's Day night, Sirius, Remus, and Peter dressed up in their nicest clothes and went down to the ballroom where the party was being held. James followed closely behind underneath the invisibility cloak with the love potions. Mcgonagall was in the main entrance, greeting students.

"Where is Mr. Potter tonight? He usually is found with you three, correct?" she asked.

"Yes mam, but he is not feeling well tonight and wanted to rest instead." Remus said innocently.

"What is the matter with him? Should I check on him?" Mcgonagall asked suspiciously.

"I wouldn't if I were you. He has the runs, mam." Sirius said. Suddenly he let out a pained yelp and grabbed his side.

"Are you alright, Mr. Black?" Mcgonagall asked.

"Yes mam, just excited for the party." He responded. The three boys entered and an invisible James followed. They went straight for the punch bowl.

"Really, I have the runs, Sirius?" James' voice asked annoyed.

"Seriously." Sirius replied.

"Okay let's do this while no one is looking." Remus said. "James start pouring the potions in while we are lookouts. James' floating hands appeared and started pouring in the potions one at a time while the others turned their backs, drinking clean punch. After 5 minutes, James was done and the boys stood to the side. Thirsty dancers came and grabbed glasses of punch. Remus saw Severus and Lily grab a glass and winced. Severus took a few sips. He walked over and started a conversation with them.

"So this party is boring, ey?" Remus asked.

"What are you talking about, it's amazing!" Lily screamed over the loud music. She took a large gulp of her punch.

"Yeah, usually I don't like parties, but I have the most beautiful and amazing date ever!" Severus said in a trance like state. Obviously the love potion is kicking in.

"You two are on a date?" Remus asked.

"I guess we are now! I'm happy being on a date with the most intelligent person in the school, besides me." Lily said slaphappy.

"Hey can I tell you something crazy?" Severus said. They seemed to ignore Remus. Lily nodded her head and smiled and took his hands.

"I've loved you for the last 5 years of my life, will you be my girlfriend?"

"Yes! I'd love to, Severus!" Lily shouted.

"That's . . . great guys . . . maybe you should go celebrate in the library, outside, or anywhere besides the ballroom." Remus said trying to warn them. Just then a slow song came on..

"No way, I love this song! Boyfriend, will you dance with me?" Lily asked.

"Of course, girlfriend." Severus replied. Before he could warn them again, they disappeared behind a wave of slow dancers.

'Remus come on, it's time!" Sirius said. The four boys slipped underneath the cloak and retrieved their wands.

"Okay, so right after the slow song is the perfect time to do it - everyone will be kissing. Everyone ready?" James whispered. The boys nodded.

Remus felt guilty that Lily and Sirius would be victims. "Maybe we shouldn't." Remus suggested.

"Remus Lupin, if you don't do this with us, I will beat your arse." James threatened. Remus swallowed and the song ended, and just as James predicted, everyone started kissing. "Picture the lips! 3, 2, 1, NOW!"

"Exposmise!" the boys shouted together. At first they thought nothing happened and the spell didn't work. But after five seconds they witnessed people who were kissing starting to struggle to detach.

Professor Mcgonagall noticed this and ran up on stage and spoke into the microphone. "Children, children stop kissing at once! This is an inappropriate public display of affection. I'll take away points . . . 50 points from each house! Stop it!" She started hearing muffled whimpers and the children looked to each other frantically. Confused she looked to her left where Madam Hooch was standing, kissing Professor Estrella. "Madame Hooch. . . Madame Hooch! Stop kissing the Professor at once!"

She walked over to her and heard a muffled "veeer stauck" coming from their attached mouths.

"What?" Mcgonagall asked. They repeated it. "You're stuck?! You're all stuck?" She asked. All the children, and teachers, nodded their heads. Remus could now see Severus and Lily stuck and felt very guilty. "Everyone stay calm. Whoever did this will be caught." Mcgonagall said.

"Let's go back before she checks our bedroom." Sirius said, the boys snuck past each kissing pair, holding back their laughter. Until they got back to their empty dorm room. They erupted in uncontrollable laughter. "That was the best prank ever!" James shouted.

"Did you see everyone's face when they realized they were stuck?" Sirius asked.

"Yeah, the love potions really had a good affect on everyone!" Peter said.

"Especially that stupid Lily and Sneverus! Were they in for a surprise." James said. Remus looked to the ground, feeling that he betrayed his other friends.


	25. Remus' Guilt

Chapter 25

 _Dear Remus,_

 _I'm glad to hear that you are having a good time at Hogwarts, but make sure you do take all your classes seriously. I don't want to get another letter from Mr. Malfoy, expressing his concern for your "wasted talents". Also I heard that there was an incident at last week's Valentine's Day dance, saying that unknown students first poluted the punch with love potion and then made every pair of kissing lips adhere to each others. Now, I am not accusing you or your friends of this prank, but that was very irresponsible. Remain the good boy your mother and I raised, the last thing our family needs is you to be in the spotlight. Blend into the background and focus on your studies._

 _As an answer to your questions, I have very good news. The ministry and I have managed to capture allies of Frederick Greyback and we are currently using . . . methods of interrogation to gain information of his whereabouts during the rest of the month. We believe if we can find him while he is in human form, it will be much easier to take him into custody. Also your mother is doing very well at her new job - she's the best saleswoman there. Because of our new more prosperous jobs, I can proudly say that we are looking into nicer townhouses to move into._

 _Your mum and I send you love and hope you will have a great school year. She sent some chocolate chip biscuits for you and your friends as well. I love you, Remus._

 _-Dad._

Remus folded the parchment neatly and put it away in his nightstand and grabbed a biscuit and started munching it. Peter entered the empty room.

"Hi Remus!" Peter said as he sat down next to him.

"Hi Peter. How are you?" Remus asked. He offered the plate of biscuits to Peter and he took one.

"I'm fine. This is the best biscuit ever. Are this from your mum?" Peter asked.

"Yeah, Vladimir just brought them. Do you ever get mail from your parents." Remus asked cautiously.

"No, they're both very busy people. My mom's a waitress at a tiny dinner and my father's always traveling."

"Is he a salesman?" Remus questioned.

"I don't know."

"You don't know?" Remus confusingly asked.

"I haven't seen him since I was seven." Peter confessed.

"I'm so sorry, Peter." Remus said softly.

"My mom still says that he's just traveling. She even tries to write birthday cards in his handwriting, but I can see right through it. People always assume that I'm dafter than I really am." Peter said coldly.

"That's not true, I think you're brilliant." Remus said.

"No you don't. You're the top of the class." Peter mumbled.

"In herbology, you were the only one to know how to properly extract the gillyweed juice yesterday. You gave Gryffindor 20 points!" Remus reminded him.

"But what will herbology do for me? It's not a practical class like potions or transfiguration was." Peter argued.

"Where do you think all the ingredients for potions come from? And all the wizard medicine?" Remus asked. Peter looked at him. "You are way smarter than you give yourself credit for." Remus said. "It's almost 7pm, I have to go down to the library to study with Severus and Lily." Remus started walking out the door but abruptly stopped. "Would you like to come and help us with Herbology?"

"You mean with you guys, the smartest of the class?" Peter asked excitedly.

"You are too now. So are you coming?" Remus asked. Peter nodded and followed Remus to the library. They sat down at a table that Severus and Lily were sitting at in awkward silence.

"Hi, I brought Peter tonight to help with identification of magical herbs."

"That's fine." Severus said quickly. Awkward silence ensued again. Remus noticed that Lily and Severus were desperately trying to avoid looking at each other. Remus remembered how they sort of avoided each other all week since the Valentine's Day Struggle and he thought how this must be the first time they confronted each other since.

"Congratulations you two!" Peter blurted out.

"On what?" Lily asked.

"You two are dating now, right?" Peter asked. There was another awkward silence. Remus tried to give him a look to shut up but he continued. "The whole school is talking about it. At the dance, you professed your love for each other."

"That was a punch intoxicated with love potion talking, right Severus?" Lily asked. Remus watched Severus's face drop into disappointment and nodded. "And then we were humiliated and were stuck kissing for two hours. TWO HOURS! Of being conjoined at the lips. It was the most embarrassing thing I've ever experienced. I can't believe the immature pranksters that did it were never caught. If I would ever catch them, I would make them kiss for two hours in front of the whole school, see how they like it."

"So you're not dating?" Peter asked confused.

"NO! Severus and I are just friends and would not want to risk our friendship." Lily screamed. "Right, Severus?" he once again disappointedly nodded.

"Good. I'm going to bed instead of studying tonight. This whole event gave me a headache." Lily said as she stormed out the door. Remus watched as Severus pushed his head hard into the table.

"You didn't want to stay just friends, did you?" Remus asked quietly. Remus shook his head and gave him a crumpled up letter with neat cursive on it.

"What's this?" Remus asked.

"It's a letter that I wrote her on Saturday night. It confesses my true feelings for her. I was going to give it to her on that Saturday night but then it was ruined when we were drugged with that love potion. I never got to give it to her after that." Severus mumbled. "If I ever catch the hooligans who planned this prank, I'll - I don't know." Severus stopped talking.

"I'm sure they didn't mean to do so much harm." Peter stammered.

Severus stopped, crinkled his eyebrows and stared at Peter who was starting to sweat. He slowly said "It was Potter, wasn't it?" Peter gulped and looked away. "It was James! He was mysteriously absent from the dance and I heard someone shout Exposmise. Did you know about this, Remus? Did you know that your friend was going to humiliate hundreds of students?"

"No! Of course I didn't!" Remus stammered.

"But you admit that it was him?" Severus asked threateningly. He stood up.

"No! I didn't mean it like that! I don't know who it was!" Remus screamed. Severus took his wand and dug it into Remus's neck and held his shirt.

"Tell me the truth, Lupin!" Severus shouted.

"Stop it! It was James! It was James! Don't hurt him!" Peter screamed from the side. Remus sighed. Severus released Remus and looked at his wand.

"Audioxo Repartarum" he whispered and Remus heard their own voices coming from Severus's wand, repeating the conversation.

"Please Severus, don't do this to James, he didn't mean to hurt you." Remus begged.

"You've never seen the way he and Sirius hex, curse, and charm me constantly. Every day I am harassed by them, but they always hide it from you."

"What?" Remus asked in confusion. He knew James had played two pranks on him, but not every day.

"You're friends with a bully, Remus. Up until this point I've been passive, but no more. I will turn this confession into Mcgonagall and James will pay for the pain he has inflicted upon Lily and I and the entire school. Don't worry though, he won't know that you two snitched as my gift for you." Severus explained.

"What about our friendship?" Remus asked. "I do consider you and Lily as my friends."

"We will appear as "friends" in front of Lily because she is fond of you. But I will never be able to accept you as a true friend until you abandon the ones who torture me every day. Goodnight, Remus." Severus maturely answered. He then left and headed to Mcgonagall's office. Remus and Peter returned to the Gryffindor house in silence. Remus stared out the window to the nearly full moon, reflected on what he had done.


	26. A Map's Creation

Chapter 26

"Welcome back, James!" Sirius said on March 1st. "So did Professor McGonagall send you to Azkaban for your suspension?"

"Ha ha very funny, Sirius. No I just had to do community service for the Ministry of Magic for ten days. It was so boring though, that I wish it was Azkaban." James said as he collapsed on his bed. "I actually worked for Remus's father." James added.

"You did?" Remus asked suddenly interested in the conversation. Remus was still feeling guilt for accidentally snitching on James.

"Yeah, and I did some snooping in the files I had to put away, and I actually found out a lot on the werewolves, Frederick and Fenrir Greyback."

"You did?" Remus gulped.

"Yeah, I know you've been at your doctor's appointment around the full moons lately, but they're are aurors guarding the school from Frederick Greyback every full moon."

"Really?" Remus asked trying to sound naive.

"Yeah and after this last full moon I found their report that said that one of the aurors had been injured on the job. Apparently Frederick didn't come to Hogwarts alone this time, he came in a pack of 4 different werewolves. The aurors were overwhelmed and one was injured. Luckily he wasn't bitten, but he nearly died." James explained.

 _No one told me anything about someone being injured._

"Really?" Sirius asked.

"Yeah, I wanted to do some more investigating. It turns out that your dad had captured one of Frederick's closest friends and questioned him about his location. So I may have used my invisibility cloak to overhear the interrogation." James said while smirking.

 _Oh no, what did you find?_

"It sounds like Frederick is being sent to Hogwarts looking for someone every full moon, someone who was turned into a werewolf by Fenrir."

"Someone at Hogwarts is a werewolf?" Peter asked.

"Maybe. And I think I have an idea of who it is." James said.

"Who?" Remus asked nervously.

"Sneverus Snape." James said disgusted.

"That would make so much sense!" Sirius yelled.

 _Thank Merlin he didn't think of me. I feel guilty for letting him take the blame, but my friends cannot find out my secret._

"Yeah, I think he could like smell me underneath the invisibility cloak and that's how he was able to turn me in - you know with his super smelling powers." James added.

"Yeah, that's how." Peter squeaked guiltily

"So I've created a plan to follow his footsteps throughout the school, in order to track where he goes and eventually to turn him into McGonagall."

"Tell us!" Sirius screamed in excitement.

"Well, we would start by drawing a map of the school and then using a Homonculous charm to track the movements of Sneverus." James said.

"That sounds pretty difficult. . ." Peter exclaimed.

"That's where our friend Remus Lupin comes in." James said.

"What?!" Remus hallard.

"Come on Remus, you were the best in Charms last semester, even better than that brainy Evans. You could totally do this one charm." James encouraged.

"Even if I could do it - which I probably wouldn't - you'd have to promise me that you wouldn't use it to harass Severus, just observe him." Remus stated.

"Of course." James mumbled quickly.

"No, you must promise that you wouldn't!" Remus yelled.

"Fine, I promise."

"Okay, draw the map and I'll research the charm." Remus reluctantly said.

Remus went to the library to check out an advanced 5th year charms text book when he saw Lily and Severus studying.

"Hey, Remus!" Lily shouted in a library whisper.

Remus walked over to their table and said "Hi Lily, Hi Severus." Severus looked up and nodded and continued studying.

Lily turned her head sideways to read the title of the textbook, _"The Standard Book of Spells: Grade 5"_ "Ooh what's that for?" She asked.

"Um, just some light reading. I should be going. Pleasure seeing you both." Remus said.

"Have fun!" She called after Remus Lupin as he quickly walked away.

"Remus, we drew a rough map of Hogwarts, did you get the book?" James asked.

"Yes, I think I know how to cast it." Remus said as he took out his wand. He turned to a chapter called " _Introduction to the Homonculus Charm"_  
 _"The Homonculus Charm is a charm that when cast onto a map, allows the possessor to view and track every person's whereabouts. It is a very advanced charm that not many can cast. However, there are practice charms - smaller versions - to help the wizard or witch build their skill. The first practice charm is called the Homonculus Solomente Charm which allows map possessors to follow one person on a map -"_ Remus read aloud.

"Perfect, let's do that." James said.

" _In order to do this charm, the wizard or witch must point their wand to the map, move their wand in a counterclockwise circle exactly 270 degrees and say Homonculus Solomente (and the name that they wish to track)."_ Remus read. He took a deep breath and pointed at the map, closed his eyes and said "Homonculus Solomente Severus Snape".

Before he opened his eyes he heard a small gasp coming from his three friends.

"Did I do it?" Remus asked nervously.

"Yeah look down." James said proudly.

Remus looked down to the drawing of the library and saw two small footprints and a label in the upper lefthand corner that read Severus Snape.

"This is the coolest thing ever!" Peter yelled. The boys watched as the tiny steps walked out the doors and walked to the slytherin corridor. And disappeared as it went off the map.

"Where did it go?" Peter asked in confusion.

"It only shows up on mapped parts of Hogwarts. We only drew parts that we know are there. We haven't ever been to the Slytherin dormitories. Or other parts of the castel." Sirius explained.

"That will have to change!" James said menacingly. The three boys laughed and started to plot how they were going to explore the entire castle without being caught while Remus once again questioned if he should be James' side, or Severus'.


	27. Hours Before The Deadliest Fullmoon

"Alright, class, don't forget to meet here in the astronomy tower at midnight to witness the very rare full moon eclipse, but make sure to use the inside stairwell, do not go outside." said Professor Estrella to the class. "It is mandatory for your grade, anyone absent will have to do a very lengthy make up assignment." He added.

Remus groaned, usually he would already be with Madame Pomphrey, but he had to explain to the professor that he would be absent. He wore black sunglasses and every noise pained him.

"Class dismissed." Professor Estrella said.

"Professor, may we have a word?" Remus asked pained.

"Por supuesto!, anything for my best student." the Professor said gleefully. Estrella looked up and noticed Remus's aviator sunglasses and general discomfort. "Are you feeling alright, Remus?"

"No, that's what I have to talk to you about. I'm leaving in a few minutes to a muggle doctor that treats my severe migraine disorder once a month. Here's my note from Professor McGonagall." Remus said trying to be as convincing as possible. Estrella squinted his eyes in confusion.

"Ah, yes, I remember you were absent for the last two observations of the full moon as well." Professor Estrella responded.

Remus didn't respond _Oh no, he's suspicious of my absence._

"Surely, you can reschedule right? I mean this type of eclipse only occurs every two years." Estrella stated.

"No, it has to be tonight. I'll do the make up assignment for you right away." Remus rambled.

"No, no. Don't worry about it. I have a feeling you'll be occupied tonight and for a day or so." Estrella said with a kind expression.

"Thanks . . ." Remus said awkwardly. _Yep. He definitely knows._ Remus started to leave the observation deck.

"Oh and Remus, I'm truly sorry that you must go through this . . . migraine disorder . . . my best friend in Brazil had the same disorder. Don't worry, it's our secret." Professor Estrella said with a smile. Remus left and was on his way to the hospital wing when he turned the corner and ran right into Professor Malfoy and fell to the ground.

"Ah, Mr. Lupin. You should watch where you are off those ridiculous glasses at once!" He snarled.

"Sorry Professor." Remus took off his glasses.

"My God, it looks like you haven't slept in days. Preparing yourself for today's duel, are we?" He questioned.

"No, Professor, I'm not feeling well and I'm heading to my doctors' in Liverpool with my parents." Remus said as he was rising to his feet.

"My class is in 5 minutes, surely your muggle doctor and your muggle mother can wait a bit longer. Plus, I believe my nephew was looking forward to dueling you a second time. Come along." said Professor Malfoy as he dragged a whimpering Remus through the halls.

When they reached the classroom, Remus collapsed in his desk from exhaustion. He covered his eyes and ears in pain. James, Peter and Severus cautiously approached him.

"Remus, aren't you supposed to have left for your doctors already?" James asked as he sat next to him.

"Professor's making me duel Malfoy first." Remus groaned.

"That's totally unfair, you've been suffering from migraines all day." Severus said.

"I have a feeling that Professor is taking advantage of your weakened state and plans on letting his cherished nephew get revenge for humiliating him the other week." James said. Remus moaned and nodded.

"Alright, class. Today we have a duel between Remus Lupin and Lucius Malfoy." Professor Malfoy announced. Lucius proudly walked to the dueling table with Domante. "Mr. Dom - MAHN - Tey, is it? Are you Lucius's second, incase he cannot complete the duel, though that is very unlikely."

Domante nodded sinisterly. Professor Malfoy looked to Remus who was still sitting down. "Mr. Lupin on your feet!"

"Come on, Professor, he can barely stand!" James screamed.

"Then you will be his second after he quickly loses?" Professor asked.

James rolled his eyes and nodded. He and Severus helped Remus up to the platform and Remus retrieved his wand. Lucius and Remus bowed to each other.

"Begin!" Professor yelled.

Lucius quickly casted petrificus totalus but fortunately Remus was able to cast a shield to protect himself. He then cast a flock of small sparrows and sent them to attack Remus but once again was able to create a shield around himself. Remus beginning to become exhausted caught his breath bending over to his knees!

"Fight back, Half-blood!" Lucius screamed. "Relashio!" He yelled as suddenly his sleek black wand released a jet of red fiery sparks.

Remus's eyes widened and he screamed "Aguamente Maxima" And a jet of white water shot from his wand like a fire hose. The jet of fire and water met in the middle and caused the water to boil and steam. The two boys held their ground for a solid fifteen seconds.

"Finish him, Lucius!" Professor Malfoy screamed. Lucius screamed "Stingumonous" and the red sparks released from his wand transformed into dozens of tiny black stingers. They traveled quickly through the jet of water and penetrated Remus's arms and legs and neck. Remus haulard in pain and dropped to his knees. It was like being stung by 20 bees at the same time. He gave another scream and Sirius, James and Peter rushed to his side.

"Professor! Lucius injured Remus badly, he broke the rules of the duel!" James screamed.

"I make the rules of the duel and a few bee stings is not so bad. You can man up, right Remus?" Professor said as he gently kicked Remus lying on the ground in Peter's lap. Remus just stared at the disgusting professor. "You, Pettigrew. Take him to the hospital so he can go to his silly little muggle doctor." Peter and Sirius helped Remus to his feet and Peter started walking to the infirmary.

"And you, Mr. Potter, are you ready to take your weak friend's place?" Professor Malfoy asked in a snarly tone. James nodded and sarcastically bowed to a smirking Lucius.

"Begin!"

"Stingumonous Maxima!" James screamed (before Lucius could even wave his wand) and fifty stingers shot out of his wand and stuck all over Lucius's flesh, including his smug face.

"Enough! 50 points from Gryffindor and a weeks' detention for you Mr. Potter!" screamed Professor Malfoy.

But James didn't care about the punishment as he watched Lucius cry in pain. He and Sirius stormed out of the room and headed after Peter and Remus who had reached the infirmary.

Remus was lying on a bed and Peter was plucking each stinger out of his flesh carefully.

"What are you guys doing here?" Remus asked. He looked at the clock, it was already 3:58 in the afternoon. He started to worry because of the winter months, the sun would set extremely early tonight - at only 4:30.

"To see you, of course!" James said.

"You should have seen what James did after you left. He sent stingumonous maxima and gave Lucius a couple singers to the face." Sirius said while laughing. Suddenly Madam Pomphrey brought a swollen Lucius into the room on a wheelchair and laid him next to Remus.

"Looking good, Malfoy." James snarked.

"You'll pay for this, Potter!" Lucius answered.

Remus watched madam Pomphrey look at her small golden pocket watch and gasped. "Potter, Black, Pettigrew, out now! Remus needs to leave for his appointment."

"I didn't see your parents waiting, I thought you said they waited in here until you came?" James asked suspiciously. Remus looked panicked to Madame Pomphrey.

"They're . . . outside. You three, leave!" She sternly said. The boys said goodbye and left.

"Mr. Malfoy, I will return in a little bit, after I escort Remus to his parents outside." Pomphrey said as she helped Remus into a wheelchair and wheeled him outside. She helped him walk to the whomping willow and paused to talk to him.

"I really must be getting back to Mr. Malfoy. You're friend, Potter really did a number to him. I can trust that you'll lock yourself up just fine tonight, right?" she asked. Remus nodded and they parted ways. Finally he reached the shrieking shack and was about to close the door when he was shocked to find a man sitting on the edge of the bed facing away from him.

Remus retrieved his wand and said "I don't know how you got in here, nor who you are, but it would be in your best interest to leave now, sir." He looked to his watch, 13 minutes till sundown.

"You don't recognize me, Remus Lupin?" The man said in a low raspy tone.

"How do you know my name, sir?" Remus questioned.

The man slowly stood up and turned around. He had short dark blond hair, a fit build, and charismatic sapphire blue eyes that would have made him look approachable, if he didn't have a nasty scar that reached from his right ear across to his nose. He was young and wearing a blue expensive suit.

"I thought my brother and I would share some similarities, though I know I got the good looks." He chuckled

"You're . . . you're Frederick Greyback." Remus stammered.

"I'm glad that we could finally meet, muzzle to muzzle." Frederick said with a crooked smile.

Remus raised his wand and started to say "Petrificus-" but was cut off with Frederick's sudden "Expelliarmus". Remus's wand went flying and rolled under the floorboards.

"Now, now Remus, can't we play nice?" Greyback asked with a smile.

"You murdered my friend!" Remus screamed.

"Ah yes, I do remember that - I remember everything from being a werewolf. Believe it or not, I have complete control. What was her name, Kathryn?" Greyback explained as he walked closer to Remus.

"Don't speak her name, you monster!" Remus shouted as he winded up a punch.

"Incarcerous!" Greyback said calmly. Ropes appeared from mid air and confined Remus. "I remember Katelyn, how she tasted. I was always one for dark meat." Greyback whispered in his ear.

"What do you want from me?" Remus whimpered.

"I would like nothing more than to tear you apart." Greyback responded as he sniffed his hair. Remus gulped. "But don't worry for now. Big brother promised that you were to be his." he said grudgingly. "However, I do get to go after the rest of your friends tonight. Peter, Sirius, Severus, James, and Lily." Remus winced at each name that he mentioned. "They'll all be in the astronomy tower at exactly midnight, right?"

"Don't you touch them!" Remus shouted.

"Or what? You'll protect them. No, no my dear boy. You'll be stuck in here all night. I better get going. It's nearly sunset." Greyback said as he headed for the door. "Oh and Remus," He said and Remus looked up infuriated. "It was a pleasure meeting you. You remind me of myself at your age." He smiled and slammed the door. The ropes fell to the ground and Remus went to open the door, but it was locked. He pounded on it shouting for anyone. He bent down to retrieve his wand but the transformation began.

 _My friends are going to die tonight and there is nothing I can do to help._


	28. The Deadliest Fullmoon

Chapter 28

After leaving Remus in the hospital wing with Madame Pomphrey, the other marauders developed a plan to follow Severus Snape and prove that he was a werewolf once and for all. "Okay, so sunset's in 30 minutes, so we have just enough time to find Sneverus before he turns. I have the map and the invisibility cloak here in my bag." said James as he reached in his red bag. The boys spent the week before finding the entrance and password for the slytherin dorms. James remembered that Friday night when they finally gained entrance.

 _"Keep up, Peter!" James snipped in a hushed tone. The marauders were tip-toeing beneath the invisibility cloak after dinner one night while following Severus to the hallway outside the Slytherin Common Room._

 _"I can't believe we're doing this. We could get in so much trouble!" Remus whispered._

 _"Sh!" Sirius said._

 _"Who's there?" Severus suddenly asked. The boys held their breath. Severus turned to a grey wall and said "Wolf's Blood" and the wall started to magically open like Diagon Alley. Severus stepped inside and the boys followed before the gate closed. The Slytherin common room was decorated in ancient green furniture and silver lamps. Malfoy, Domante, and a second year girl named Gina were gathered playing chess._

 _"Hello, Severus." Malfoy said._

 _"Hello." Severus said but he kept walking to a staircase that lead downstairs, presumably to the bedrooms._

 _"Hold on, now. Where is my essay for Astronomy?" Malfoy said as he got up._

 _"I'm not going to do anymore homework for you, Malfoy." Severus said._

 _"Now, you will or I'll have Domante beat you until that fat Pomphrey can't tell who you are." Malfoy said. Severus, who had his hand on his wand in his back pocket, quickly drew it and said expeliarmus and all three opposing wands went flying into his hand._

 _"Listen here, I do not take bullying lightly. Though I may not look like it, I am an extremely dangerous person with hidden and dark talents. I don't have time for spoiled daddy boys like you. Goodnight." Severus said as he dropped their wands and left. The marauders looked at each other in horror and left._

 _"See, Remus. He even said that he had hidden dark talents. I'm positive he's a werewolf now." James said that night in the Gryffindor common room._

Now, the three boys once again were underneath the invisibility cloak snooping outside the Slytherin common room. They approached the wall and said the password "Wolf's Blood" and entered.

"Okay, so the map says that Sneverus is in a room right by his bedroom." James said while analysing the map.

"Why do you think he's there?" Peter asked.

"It's getting close to sunset, maybe he transforms in there!" Sirius suggested.

"Let's go see, wands at the ready." James instructed.

The boys walked down the stairs and entered the boy's bedroom. James lead them accros to the uncharted room on the map where Severus's footsteps were stopped.

"It's 4:21. He would have changed by now." James whispered.

"Let's find out." said Sirius. Peter was practically white with fear. James mouthed the numbers 1, 2, 3 and shouted "Alohamora!" and the door swong open and the boys remained under their invisibility cloak. "Caught you!" James screamed, but the boys were disappointed to not find a werewolf. Instead the room they had opened was the boy's bathroom and Severus was taking a bubblebath.

A very startled Severus screamed "who's there?!" and grabbed his wand and a towel.

"Run! Run!" Sirius shouted and the boys ran away under the invisibility cloak. In only a white towel, Severus followed them through the invisible boy's bedroom up the stairs and into the common room where he was stopped by Lucius, Domante, Gina, and practically the rest of the Slytherin dorm. They all looked at him and burst into laughter. Severus turned red and turned around.

"Is taking bubble baths one of your very special dark talents, Severus?" Lucius asked while laughing. James, Peter, and Sirius managed to escape the Slytherin dorm and bursted into laughter in the hall.

"Too bad he wasn't a werewolf." Sirius said while wheezing.

"Seeing him covered in bubbles in the middle of his common room was satisfying enough!" James said back.

"Too bad Remus wasn't here." Peter said.

"No, Remus probably would have killed me for doing that to his friend." James said while still laughing.

"Let's get some rest before we have to go to that stupid Astronomy thing." said Sirius.

Around 11:50pm, all the first years from Slytherin and Gryffindor met at the top of the Astronomy tower. Lily was there with Severus who still was red from the day's events. James overheard him venting his problems to Lily.

"As I was trying to follow the invisible intruder, they led me straight into the full Slytherin common room in only a towel. I'm the laughing stock of the Slytherins. It was the most embarrassing moment of my life!"

"It's all going to be find. You'll catch the immature idiots who did that to you, I know you will." Lily reassured him.

"Okay, class, gather around the railing and turn your focus to the full moon, the eclipse will be happening soon." Professor Estrella said to his class. The class gathered around the railings and looked to the sky. James stood between Lily and Sirius.

"Wow, it's beautiful!" Lily admired.

"Yeah, it really is." James said.

"Really James Potter? I never took you for one who finds beauty in anything, just quidditch." Lily sassily said.

"No, I find a few things beautiful, trust me." James said as he watched Lily's glowing green eyes being spellbound by the moon.

This moment was interrupted when Peter Pettigrew, who was standing furthest from the railing because "He didn't like heights" said "Professor I think I hear something coming up the stairs."

"Don't worry about it, Pettigrew. Come admire the constellations." Professor Estrella said as his gaze was fixed on the moon.

James and Lily turned around because they heard noises coming from the metal stairs as well. "Professor, he's telling the truth." James said. The rest of the class turned to look what they were talking about.

A very annoyed Professor went to the top of the staircase and shined a lumos maxima. All he could see was two green dots, reflections of animal eyes. They squinted and the professor with a horrific realization screamed "Run!" Before the beast leapt from the bottom step all the way to on Estrella. The children screamed and ran to the other side while some grabbed their wands. They watched in horror as the werewolf bite the young professor's muscular right shoulder. He screamed and started swearing in Portuguese.

The werewolf got off of him and turned his attention to the thirty children. James and Sirius and Severus took out their wands and started to throw every curse they knew at the beast, but nothing seemed to slow it. He nonchalantly strutted to in front of the children and seemed to fix his gaze on Lily. The werewolf seemed to lean back, preparing to lunge but suddenly it stopped and laid down in pain. It gave yelps and seemed to be transforming back into a human.

"What's happening to it?" Peter asked from the corner.

"The eclipse!" Lily Evans shouted as she pointed to the moon, rather the black circle that was covering the moon. "It's changing him back."

The children moved over to their injured teacher and started escaping down the stairs, a very scared Lucius Malfoy the first to go. Soon only Estrella, James, Lily, Sirius, Severus, Peter, and a few others were remained when James noticed the naked man who was once the werewolf stand up before the railin. "What's happening?!" The man screamed frustrated.

"You've met your time, Frederick Greyback!" Professor Estrella said as he raised his wand and said "Flipendo". This pushed Frederick back, he flipped over the railing, and screamed as he fell down the long fall to the earth.

"That was for Katelyn." Professor Estrella said as he passed out in Lily's lap. The children ran to the railing to watch and were surprised to see just before he hit the ground, he apparated and disappeared in a black smoke before their eyes.

"He didn't die." James said in horror. They watched as the lunar eclipse ended.

"Come on, we must get the Professor to the hospital before he bleeds to death." Lily said. "Help me carry him."

"Does this mean that he'll turn into a w-wearwolf?" Peter asked squeamishly.

"Yes, but he still saved our lives." Sirius answered.

"He should be considered a hero." James added in an admiring tone. The children carried Professor Estrella's large unconscious body until they found Professor Mcgonagall in the hall. She sent the children to bed right away and transported herself and Estrella to the infirmary. Meanwhile, another werewolf howled and scratched at the walls of the shrieking shack, and on it's own flesh - Remus slept inside the beast, unbeknownst to the events that occurred that evening.


	29. Farewell Professor

Chapter 29

When Remus woke up, he was already in the private room of the hospital.

"Madam Pomfrey, Madam Pomfrey!" Remus called out. He heard the quick high heels and the door opened.

"Hush now, Remus. You'll wake the other patient." Madam Pomfrey told him.

Remus's face went white and he stuttered "other patient?".

 _Oh Merlin, one of my friends was injured last night, perhaps more killed._

Remus struggled to get up and Madam Pomfrey fought him, saying "No Remus, you mustn't get out of bed. You have a cracked rib this time!"

Remus could feel the excruciating pain from the cracked rib but got up anyway. He pushed past Pomfrey who was guarding the door and limped over to the only closed privacy curtain. He took a big breath and opened it.

"Professor Estrella?" Remus asked in confusion. Remus felt a gentle hand on his right shoulder.

"He was bitten last night by Frederick Greyback in the Astronomy tower." Madam Pomfrey whispered.

 _Frederick made it up to the tower. My friends!_

"Was anyone else injured or . . . killed?" Remus questioned nervously.

"No. The Professor was very brave and saved everyone else. Apparently there was an eclipse last night, so Greyback's lunar rhythm was disturbed and he turned back into his human form. It was just enough time that Professor Estrella could launch him off the observation platform." she explained.

"So he's dead." Remus said relieved.

"Not quite dear. Students claimed they saw Greyback apparate mid flight, so he probably survived." Madam Pomfrey said solemnly.

Remus felt as if he were about to faint and sat in the chair besides Estrella's bed.

 _He'll come back. He won't stop until everyone I care for is dead._

"Come now, child. You must get back to bed." she said as she helped him up, but suddenly Professor Estrella grabbed Remus's arm and opened his eyes.

"Let me talk with him, Madam." Remus asked. Madam Pomfrey left the room and closed the curtains.

"Hello, Professor." Remus hushed.

"Hello, my favorite student." Professor Estrella said while smiling, but was interrupted with a coughing fit.

"I'm so sorry that this happened to you." Remus said with tears in his eyes.

"Now, now. Don't be sorry. I would much rather have me on this bed than a student." The Professor said in a warm tone.

"Thank you for saving my friends." Remus said as he grabbed his hand.

"I didn't kill Greyback, though." Estrella mumbled.

"It's okay." Remus said.

"No. I should've used the killing curse, but I choked." Professor said.

"No one should use the killing curse, Professor. It's unforgivable." Remus said, slightly disturbed.

"Remus, that man is a monster. He killed an innocent little girl and probably countless others. Some people deserve the unforgivable." Estrella said while remaining eye contact. Remus didn't answer, unsure if he agreed or not. He began to walk away.

"Remus," Professor said. Remus turned to him. "What's it like?" he asked in a horrified tone.

"Agonizing. But you'll find out soon enough." Remus answered and he left and returned to his room.

The next morning Remus woke up, feeling much better. He changed into his school robes and walked out of the hospital. As he was walking through the hall outside the infirmary, he saw all his friends turn the corner.

"Remus, you're back!" James shouted and he gave him a bear hug and lifted Remus's tiny frame into the air. Remus had to bite his tongue from screaming in pain because his rib was still cracked.

"Yep." Remus squealed as he was let down. He looked to see Sirius, Peter, Lily, and Severus were all present. "What are you guys doing here?"

Their faces dropped and Sirius said sadly. "We're here to see Professor Estrella, have you heard what happened yet?"

"Yes. I have." Remus said in a solemn voice. He followed his friends back into the hospital and they approached the Professor who was sitting up in his bed.

"Hello. . ." The professor said to the six students who stood before him. He and Remus made awkward eye contact.

"Hi, Professor!" They said together.

"Um. . . we wanted to see how you were doing." Lily said.

"How considerate. I'm doing well, the pain has decreased and I should be out of here by tomorrow." Professor answered while smiling.

"That's good because you're the only cool teacher we have right now." Sirius said.

"Thanks, Sirius."

"Also, we cannot tell you how grateful we are that you saved our lives." said James

"Anyone would have done it. Anyway, you all were very brave, but especially you, Sirius, and Severus were incredible because of how you used your defensive charms without hesitation." Estrella said.

"You did?" Remus asked

"Yeah, but it didn't really do anything. If you were there we might have had a shot." Severus said disappointed.

Just then the doors of the hospital flung open and Professor Malfoy, Dumbledore, and the Minister of Magic, Jeremy Walter, entered. They walked over to the bed that Estrella was lying in.

"Children, please leave us alone." Malfoy said.

"What are you here for?" James asked.

"It really doesn't concern you, does it? Leave!" Malfoy said. The children went into the hall and Lily and Severus left for the library. James pulled out his invisibility cloak and ordered the marauders to go underneath. They entered the hospital once again and stood in the corner.

"I'm being fired?" Estrella asked in disbelief.

"I forgot, your English is not advanced. Sim!" Malfoy said.

"Professor that is enough. Is this really necessary? The man's a hero. He saved your nephew, Professor. He should be promoted, not exterminated!" Dumbledore said.

"Yes, he did save the children, but then he was infected. He is a danger to the student body and I will not have a werewolf on campus!" Malfoy snarled.

"Please, Mr. Minister, I will openly register, I will even leave Hogwarts every full moon. I would never let myself endanger a person." Estrella said. "I am the brightest astronomy teacher in the world, please don't make me leave."

"We've seen what werewolves can do. I'd think you would know best of all people. Do it for your late wife. Do it for Susan." Malfoy whispered into the Minister's ear.

"I'm terribly sorry, Professor Estrella, but I want you out of Hogwarts by tomorrow." The Minister said while avoiding eye-contact. The Marauders left undetected and went to Sunday breakfast.

"Fired? I can't believe they fired the Professor!" Sirius said as he angrily bite his sausage.

"I know, he's the greatest teacher ever! Who cares if he's a werewolf?" James said.

 _Wow, I did not expect them to react to a werewolf like this, this is good._ Remus thought.

"Remus, how was your appointment?" Peter asked.

"Fine. It was fine." Remus shortly said. He was very starving and was eating a large serving of scrambled eggs. "I have to go do something, I'll see you guys later though." Remus said as he shoveled a last large fork full of eggs into his mouth.

Remus first went to the hospital in search of Estrella, but he was already gone. He ran to Estrella's office instead. The door was open and he could see Estrella leaning against his desk. He knocked.

"Ah, Remus, come in!" the Professor said with a smile. He moved a half full luggage from the visitor's chair. Remus sat down.

"You're leaving sir?" Remus asked.

"Yes. I decided to take some time off. I miss my family in Rio." he lied.

"I see. Frederick Greyback is after to kill my friends and family because he is the brother of Fenrir Greyback, the werewolf who turned me when I was five." Remus confessed.

"You were only five, Remus?" Estrella asked in shock. Remus nodded. "Why are you telling me all of this?"

"I've never been able to tell anyone before." said Remus. "I just wanted to tell you before you went." Remus started to leave.

"Remus, it was a pleasure to know you. May we stay in touch?" The Professor asked.

Remus nodded and said "Goodbye, Professor." He walked to the doorframe and turned around. "You didn't deserve to be fired." and left. Estrella's eye released one tear and picked up the _Undesirable Number 1: Frederick Greyback_ poster that was lying on his desk and examined it closely, gazing into the sapphire blue eyes that attacked him.

"Incendio" he said while waving his wand and the moving picture started on fire and dropped it on the floor. "I'll make you pay for what you've done, Greyback. Mark my words."


	30. April Fools

Chapter 30 April Fools Pranks and letter

"Okay lads, tomorrow's April Fool's day, the most sacred holiday amongst marauders." James said to Remus, Sirius, and Peter. "So, we must do something huge, unforgettable, and hilarious."

Remus, who was studying out of his Defense Against the Dark Arts textbook looked up with bloodshot eyes and said "Bloody hell, I am not doing any pranks! I have to study for the big test tomorrow."

"Why are you studying for Defense Against the Dark Arts? You're the best in the class." Sirius said as he stole his textbook.

"Was. I _was_ the best in the class. But do you know what Professor Malfoy graded me for that duel on last Friday?" Remus said panicked. The boys shook their heads. "A 10 out of 50! That's 20%. That's beyond failing."

"Stupid Malfoy. That was totally unfair. You were hardly walking that day." Sirius said.

"Yeah. It dropped my grade from a 100% to a 74%." Remus said.

"Lucky! My grade's a 72%!" Peter whined.

"No. Not Lucky. I've never gotten anything below a 92%. So, I have to work my arse off the rest of the year to raise it. Now if you excuse me, I'm going to the library for the next 6 hours." Remus said.

"Remus, just remember for tomorrow. If you're not the cat, you're the mouse. Are you sure you don't want to join us?" James warned.

"Positive." Remus said as he stormed out, his head still buried in his textbook. _What did I just do?_

Remus woke up still in the library at 7am. _I must have pulled an all nighter._ Remus thought as he yawned. _I have to go change, eat, and then I should study again._

In his dormitory, Remus grabbed the rest of his school supplies and opened his wardrobe for his school clothes. Suddenly his clothes bursts out of the wardrobe dancing. His trousers were doing an Irish jig, his shirt and sweater were doing a tango together, his socks were leaping in a ballet fashion, and his shoes were doing a tap dance. Remus, in his briefs, lunged trying to catch all his clothes, but they swiftly moved away from him and slid out of his grasp. He looked out of the corner of his eye and saw his school robe open the door to Gryffindor common room.

"Oh no you don't." Remus said and he ran and tackled the robe to the ground, but the door was wide open and the remainder of his clothes escaped outside. Remus slide on his school robe, his bare knobby knees stuck out of the bottom, and chased the clothes into the common room. There he saw James, Sirius, and Peter watching in anticipation along with Brian, Gan Chang, and about 15 other Gryffindors from all years. They all began laughing hysterically. Remus stood like a deer with his wand in his hand, unsure what to do. He looked to James and saw his smirk and it infuriated him. He watched his clothes weave through the teenagers in the crowd, still dancing. He had an idea.

He clapped his hands four times and shouted "1-2-3- and 4!" and waved his wand. His clothes suddenly came in front of Remus and formed one outfit standing up. Remus waved his wand and it began dancing a quick salsa. The Gryffindors stopped laughing and began applauding Remus.

He turned to James and he looked shocked and a bit disappointed. Remus gave a sinister grin as he had a marauding idea. He waved his wand again and the salsaing clothes turned to James and grabbed his hands. It began salsaing with James and James couldn't pull away, it was too strong. Gryffindors laughed as James was twisted and turned and lifted into the air. James screamed to Remus to make it stop. Remus twirled his wand and prepared for the big finish. The body of clothes spun James around in about ten small circles, threw him into the air, and it did the splits and held out it's arms as James landed in it's cradle.

The room burst in applause. Remus released the body and it collapsed into a pile of clothes and James tumbled to the ground. Remus walked over to the pile of clothes and winked to James while smiling. James grabbed his arm and said "You think you can beat me at my own game, well Remus Lupin, the war is on. It's only 8:00am, we have all day. May the best Marauder win."

Remus shook his hand and grabbed his clothes and changed in the bathroom. He looked into the mirror at his exhausted reflection. _Oh Merlin, what did I get myself into this time. I have to take that test in four hours and now I have to worry about a prank war as well? I should just avoid all interaction with James until after the test_ , _then I can win the war._

Remus decided to skip breakfast and to return to the library for the remainder of the morning. The first years now had a free period in the morning in the absence of astronomy. Dumbledore was trying to find a replacement for Professor Estrella, but was having difficulty. Remus figured the library would be the last place James would ever want to go.

At 1:45, Remus left for Defense Against the Dark Arts. He took his assigned seat and waited for his test and special anti-cheating quill to be passed out. He was feeling confident that he knew the material - he must have studied for this exam for over 32 hours. He looked across the room to James and James gave a snicker as they made eye contact. Remus gulped, terrified of what pranks James had in store for him. Professor Malfoy approached Remus and handed him the test and quill before he moved on, he whispered. "I do hope that you don't miserably fail this test like the last assessment."

"Trust me, I won't." Remus whispered back.

"No talking! 10 points from Gryffindor!" the Professor said. Remus squinted his eyes and his face became red with anger.

"You may begin." The professor said as he took a seat behind his fancy silver desk.

Remus turned his attention to his test. He flew through the questions like a hummingbird. None of the questions stumped him and he finished the hour long test in 25 minutes. He got up and turned his paper on the professor's desk.

He watched as the smug professor took his red quill and carefully examined each answer. The professor sighed and frowned as he finished and wrote 100/100 on the top of the exam. He looked up at Remus and looked furious. Remus smiled and the professor gave an angry shooing motion with his pale hand. Remus returned to his desk and noticed that Malfoy was only on the second page. Remus smiled and returned to his desk and waited for the remainder of the class to finish.

Once the class was over, Remus took a stroll outside in the foggy springtime and laid on the grass of the courtyard, proud of his accomplishments. He set his wand down next to him in the grass and closed his eyes when he felt a strange sensation. He opened his eyes and saw that the walls of Hogwarts were getting huge, growing 100 times bigger. And the grass beside him was growing large as well.

 _No, everything isn't growing. I'm shrinking!_ He stood up and realized he was now only a few centimeters taller than the grass beside him. _James!_ _I must only be 15 cm. It's okay. I know the counter curse for this shrinking charm._ He reached in his tiny pocket for his wand and remembered that his wand was beside him. He walked across a bit of grass and saw his wand lying in his grass. _It's about twice as big as I am! How am I going to reverse this without a wand?_

Remus's heart stopped as he heard huge thumps in the earth coming to him. He looked up at the three huge figures and recognized them as his friends.

"There you are! We were afraid we would have lost you." James boomed. Remus grabbed his ears, pained by his large voice.

"Aren't as tough without your magic, are you?" Sirius said as he picked up Remus's wand from the ground.

"Very funny guys. Now turn me back!" Remus shouted, but the boys couldn't understand him.

"I think he's talking." Peter said. He was a bit concerned.

"Just a second, Remus." James said as he knelt down. "Come here" He said as he reached out his hand to grab him. He picked him up by the waist and Remus screamed.

"Put me down, James!" Remus yelled as he hit his thumb.

"No, you deserve this after all, you agreed to a prank war, so here it is." James said.

"Fine, you win, you win." Remus said.

"What was that?" Sirius asked, though he could hear.

"James won the war. He's the best marauder. I have no idea how you were able to do this, but I am impressed. Now turn me back!" Remus screamed.

"Fine, fine. You're no fun." James said as he set Remus down on a bench. James grabbed his wand and twirled it between his fingers. "But before I turn you back, you have to promise me something first."

"What?!" Remus asked.

"You have to always be up to marauding." James said.

"But…." Remus pouted.

"Fine, have fun being eaten by an owl. I think Vladimir is eyeing you up." Sirius added.

"Fine. I'll always be up to marauding with you." Remus said. James smiled and waved the magic wand as he spoke the counter incantation. Remus's small body quickly grew and soon he was sitting on the bench in normal size. He stood up and grabbed his wand from Sirius's hand. James eyed him confused.

"Are you taller now?" James asked.

"I guess I do feel taller." Remus said as he looked to his skinny legs. He now looked James at eye level - he used to look up to him. "That's what you get for shrinking me." Remus said. James shrugged. "Oh, I got an A+ on that exam!" Remus stated.

"Good, so your grade is rising?" Peter asked.

"Yep, it's already up to a B+. Malfoy wasn't happy about it at all." Remus said. "And I'm ready to crush his nephew in our next duel."

"Good. I can't wait to see that twat defeated and crying." Sirius said.

"Yeah, and you and I can defeat him in the upcoming Quidditch tournament." James added. "Can you believe there are only three games left of the season?" James asked.

"It's sad to think about." Sirius said.

"Come on, we can't be late to herbology." Remus said. The three followed him, happy with their day of marauding.


	31. Hogwarts Quidditch Cup

Chapter 31 Quidditch Cup

"Welcome witches and wizards to the first game of the 247th annual Hogwarts Quidditch Tournament." Remus said into the microphone. The crowd erupted into applause. "Today we will witness Gryffindor play Hufflepuff. The victor will advance in the tournament and play the winner of next week's game between Ravenclaw and Slytherin! And the two winners will compete against each other in exactly a fortnight from tonight, April 4th." Remus said as he watched the two teams line the field. He waved to Gan Chang, and he waved back, though he looked nervous.

"And they are off! Robert Flaneb takes the quaffle and passes it to Henry Grant, he passes it to Flaneb. An incoming bludger almost hits Flaneb, but Lucy hits it away. Grant now has the quaffle and scores. Ten points to Gryffindor!" Remus announces. The game continues and Gryffindor crushes Hufflepuff before halftime - 70-0.

"Welcome back! The snitches and seekers have been released and, Hufflepuff chaser, Emma Simon, just made a ring past Keeper, John Popke. 10 points to Hufflepuff. Hufflepuff is not giving up yet folks." Remus said. He looked to his right and saw Lily sitting alone.

"Where's Severus?" Remus asked while watching the game.

"He didn't want to come today. He said _why would I care to watch Gryffindor play a silly game like quidditch?"_ Lily said and gave a small sigh. "Even though we never missed a game together."

"That was a bit rude." Remus said. "Hufflepuff scores another 10 points!" He suddenly screamed into the microphone. "Pardon me, Lily."

"It's alright. He's been acting differently ever since that awful Valentine's day prank. Did he talk to you about it at all?" Lily asked.

"What? No. Not at all." Remus lied "Hufflepuff Keeper blocks Flaneb's throw."

"Sometimes I wish that we would have stayed dating." Lily said.

"You should tell him about it, I think he'd listen." Remus said while looking her in the eyes.

"Remus, look!" Peter screamed. Remus turned his attention to Gan Chang who held the golden snitch in his fist.

"Gan Chang has caught the golden snitch, Gryffindor wins and advances in the tournament!" Remus announced. He turned to his right again to Lily, but she was gone.

The 11th of April was the second match of the tournament, Slytherin Vs Ravenclaw. James, Sirius, and Peter sat in the seats next to the announcing table. Gan Chang, holding a sign that said Jennifer Wegner with blue hearts drawn around it, and the remainder of Gryffindor team sat behind Remus. Lily and Severus were absent.

"I hope Ravenclaw wins today." Sirius stated.

"Yeah, but Slytherin plays dirty." James said.

"And the players have lined up and the game has begun!" Remus announced. They watched as the blue and green players zoomed through the air.

"Chaser, Victoria passes Ravenclaw keeper, Yolanda Greatcle, and scores 10 points for Slytherin." Remus announced.

James and Sirius booed as they ate their popcorn. The game continued and the audience witnessed very dirty moves by the Slytherin team. For example, Victoria and the other chasers used Ravenclaw players heads as objects to ricochet the quaffle off of, the Slytherin beaters would aim the flying bludgers for sensitive body parts on the male Ravenclaw players. But they weren't penalized because Professor Malfoy was the referee.

By 3/4ths the way through, Ravenclaw was down 160 points from Slytherin but the seekers, Crystal and Jennifer were still chasing the snitch. Crystal would violently bang into Jennifer's broom, sending her spiraling out of control, but she would always regain control and reenter the pursuit.

"She's going to kill my girlfriend!" Gan screamed.

Just then, they watched as Jennifer gave a mighty push into the enormous Crystal and the beast went tumbling to the ground. Jennifer leaned into her broom to get it going a bit faster and finally was able to reach the snitch.

"Jennifer has the golden snitch and has gained 150 points to Ravenclaw. Unfortunately for Ravenclaw, Slytherin still wins 160 to 150." Remus announced, disappointed. The entire Gryffindor team and some Ravenclaw fans booed. Tthe Slytherin team pompously flew around the stadium.

"Be sure to return next week when the last match of the year between Slytherin and Gryffindor will play for the Quidditch cup." Remus yelled over the boos.

The week leading up to the finals were very tense. The entire school was segregated on two sides: Slytherin Vs everyone else. Fights between seventh year Gryffindors and Slytherins broke out almost everyday in the great hall. Finally Friday the eighteenth was here and Remus noticed how Gan and Flaneb were as nervous as they ever were before. He wished them and the rest of the Gryffindor team good luck and took their seats in the stands.

Remus saw Severus sitting across the field in the Slytherin section and Lily sat alone next to Peter, James, and Sirius. Most parents of the players were at the game.

"Good Evening everyone! I hope you brought your rain gear because it's about to storm - and I don't just mean from watching the game." Remus's attempt with a pun was answered with complete awkward silence. "Anyway, welcome to the Hogwarts' Quidditch Cup between Gryffindor and Slytherin. May the game begin." Remus announced.

He commented as he watched a vicious game ensue in the middle of a thunderstorm. Both Flaneb and Victoria made 20 points for their teams. Lucy was trying her hardest defending his teammates from wild bludgers. Slytherin and Gryffindor were able to remained tied for the entire first half of the game - it seemed as if as soon as one chaser would score, an opposing chaser would also score.

"Midway through the game and Slytherin and Gryffindor are still tied 100-100. No. Slytherin just scored. 110-100. No, again. 110-110." Remus said in confusion. "Ladies and gentlemen, this rarely happens in Quidditch history! Let's see if a seeker can break this tie finally." Remus said as he watched Gan and Crystal scaned the pouring rain for the golden snitch like hawks. Meanwhile, very angry remainder of the teams battled for points back and forth.

As Flaneb and the other chasers were making their way across the field, Gan flew fast right in front of the v of Gryffindors, causing them to violently hault.

"Sorry, I spotted it down here." Gan called over his shoulder. Crystal heard and saw this and swooshed and chased Gan and the snitch in the middle of the main game's action. Crystal suddenly reached in front of him and took hold of Gan's broomstick.

"What are you doing?" Gan yelled.

"Winning." Crystal said sinisterly and she violently yanked Gans' broomstick from under him. Gan fell to the ground and heard a crack from his arm. Crystal laughed and snapped the broomstick in half, unbeknownst to him, she was headed straight for two players who were looking for revenge, and crashed with them. They crashed to the ground and Victoria joined them in a fist fight.

"Oh my, ladies and gentlemen, Crystal has just collided with John Potke, Robert Flaneb, and Victoria Winter. They all crashed to the ground in a massive pileup. And now their fighting!" Remus said in disbelief. Madame Pooch and Pomphrey ran to the pile of students and Gan and gave a signal to Professor Mcgonagall who was sitting next to Remus.

She took over the microphone and announced. "The game is over. Ladies and gentlemen please remain calm and in your seats."

"But who won Professor?" Remus asked.

She glared at him and said into the microphone. "Neither team won. The loss is unanimous between teams. The cup will not be awarded this year due to the most unsportsmanlike conduct I have ever seen."

Later that night, Remus, Sirius, James, and Peter went to the hospital to visit the injured players. Robert had a concussion and a missing tooth, John had a cracked rib and a mean black eye, Crystal had a broken arm and a broken leg, and Victoria was whining and wailing for a scratch and bruise. Gan was fast asleep with his injuries.

"This is all your fault, Crystal!" Robert screamed across the hospital room. "Ah, my head!" he winned as he grabbed his head.

"I was just trying to win, just like you, Flaneb!" Crystal screamed back.

"You could have killed us all!" John said as he grabbed his rib. Peter, Sirius, James, and Remus exchanged a look.

"You're all fine! Me, on the other hand. . ." Victoria whinned.

"You're such a little girl, Victoria! Want me to give you a real injury?" Flaneb said as he stood up. John followed his lead and Victoria got to her feet. Crystal even grabbed a crutch and stood as well.

"Everyone should just calm down!" Remus said as he grabbed his wand.

"What are you going to do about it, Lupin?" Victoria asked as he drew his wand.

Just then the doors bursted open and Mcgonagall and Hooch entered. Professor took one look at the standing boys and screamed. "Everyone back in your beds, Now!" The boys and girls limped back to their beds and Remus, James, Sirius, and Peter awkwardly sat down.

"Never in my 35 years have I ever seen such a disgraceful game of quidditch!" the professor snipped. "Ms. Verrio, you took the broom from Mr. Chang mid flight causing him to fall. You are hereby suspended from Quidditch for your entire 6th year!"

"But mam!" Crystal said. She gave him the death eye and she shut up.

"As for you two," Mcgonagall said as she turned to Flaneb and John "After seeing this occur you dare to tackle her to the ground? Do you know how much you could have been hurt? What an immature response! Detention for both of you for an entire week!" There was silence for a long time before Hooch turned to a smiling Victoria.

"Don't you think we've forgotten about you! I saw how you joined Crystal in her brawl with Flaneb and Potke! Fighting in the middle of a match! The immaturity! Detention for you as well." Hooch said. The two furious women turned to exit, their high heels stomping on the ground loudly.

"Goodnight. Oh and I don't think this is a good time to visit Gan. Mr. Lupin, Pettigrew, Potter, and Black return to the Gryffindor dorms at once!" Professor Mcgonagall said. They obeyed and left. Mcgonagall who was still staring at the boys in the infirmary said "Immature twits" and slammed the door.


	32. How many more?

Chapter 32

 _30 / 04 / 1971_

 _Dear Remus,_

 _I enjoy reading your weekly letters and I'm glad you're doing well. Your mother and I are doing quite well also. At the office, we are getting very close to finding Frederick Greyback. We have intel that he lives somewhere near Hogsmeade, but he may be using a polyjuice potion to change his appearance. Our source said that every full moon he walks through the forbidden forest to Hogwarts. Tonight, before the full moon, we plan on raiding each house of Hogsmeade in search of him. Also, we are setting up traps in the forest. He doesn't stand a chance against us. Don't worry Remus, by the time you wake up tomorrow, Greyback will be in Azkaban with his brother._

 _With love,_

 _Dad_

Remus carefully folded the letter and put it in the bottom of his bag that he took to the infirmary.

"Alright, it's almost sunset. Ready to go to the shrack?" Madame Pomfrey asked as she walked in the room. Remus nodded and painfully got up. He walked outside with the Madame. He noticed the entire castle was silent.

"Where is everyone?" He asked.

"The entire school is on lockdown, after last month." she answered. When they got to the entrance of the whomping willow Madame Pomphrey said goodbye and returned to the school. Remus turned to the entrance but heard a snapping of a twig coming from the forbidden forest behind him. He turned around and pointed his wand, but it was too dark to see anything.

He turned back and began to crawl into the entrance when he heard a sinister raspy voice say "Goodnight." Remus winced and ran to the room and locked the door behind him.

 _It's okay, they'll catch him tonight._

Remus thought as he paced the floor of the room, waiting for the transformation.

When Remus awoke, Madame Pomfrey, Professor Mcgonagall, and Headmaster Dumbledore were sitting on the broken bed frame. They sat in silence.

"The aurors caught him, right. My dad said they had a plan to catch him and it was foolproof." Remus asked.

"No, Remus they -" Professor Mcgonagall said.

"Did they have to - kill him?" Remus squeaked.

"No. Remus. The plan didn't work." Dumbledore said.

"What happened last night?" Remus asked in horror.

"Two of our best aurors were murdered last night. A brave man and woman, husband and wife, died together." Dumbledore carefully explained.

Remus's eyes began to water, he said in panic "How many more? How many more people have to die because of me?"

"Remus Lupin, my dear boy, nobody blames you for their deaths. It is our job as faculty and adults to protect _all_ students." Professor Mcgonagall said sweetly.

Remus began to hyperventilate and quickly muttered "No. No, it's my fault. It's all my fault. The Greybacks are after me. If I weren't here, no one would have died. I need to do something. I need to - I need to stop this . . . I . . ." Remus fainted out of consciousness.

Remus awoke in his room at the hospital three days later, completely healed of his injuries. _I need to stop this!_ He suddenly remembered. _But how? I need help but from whom?_ Then Remus had an excellent idea and frantically grabbed a quill and parchment.

 _"Dear Professor Estrella . . ."_

Remus wrote to the young professor, explaining the situation and begging him for help. He used a school owl and told it to find the professor, but he wasn't even sure where he would be.

Remus waited for a week in anticipation. He was quiet and distant from his friends and focused on his schoolwork the entire week. He was getting dressed one day when a tropical green macaw delivered a letter early Wednesday morning.

 _Dear Remus Lupin,_

 _Thank you for writing to me, I've been a bit lonely lately here in Rio. Though I'm happy that I am home with my love, Leonardo. (P.S. sorry I didn't tell you I am Bi-Sexual at school; it was against Hogwart's policy). I was a bit stumped on what to do until I asked my love his opinion. (He was my "friend"_ _that I told you about with your, I mean our, condition since he was a boy). He said that he would help me find Frederick Greyback for you. Apparently when you're a you-know-what for a long time, some people like Leonardo can use their heightened senses even when it's not near the full moon. we will apparate into Hogsmeade on Wednesday, the eleventh of May at 1pm, the same time your field trip is scheduled. We can meet behind the Boar's Head pub and we'll discuss this further then._

 _Best wishes,_

 _Estrella._

 _This is perfect! Estrella and Leonardo will be able to help!_


	33. Leonardo and Estrella

Chapter 33: Leonardo and Estrella

"Ready for Hogsmeade today, Remus?" Peter said while yawning.

"Yeah. It'll be good." Remus said.

"I'm going to bring the cloak, see if we can't spy on the teachers in the adult only section of the pub." James said as he rolled out of bed.

"Maybe we can see what happens when Mcgonagall get's polluted." Sirius laughed and the boys joined in.

During the carriage ride, Remus was seated alone with Severus. They haven't really talked deeply since February, just small talk with Lily. There was awkward silence for five whole minutes before Remus couldn't take the pain anymore.

"I don't expect you will ever forgive me for allowing James to do that to you and Lily, but I just want to express how deeply sorry and regretful I am that I did that. I was immature and just going along with peer pressure. You and Lily are really great people and you didn't deserve to be humiliated like that. Now I feel like I am rambling a bit so I think I'll stop talking now. You don't have to say anything to me in response, but I'm going to stop talking because this is becoming more awkward than the silence." Remus said in almost one breath.

Severus just stared at Remus in disbelief. He opened his mouth and said "Thanks, Remus, I've forgiven you."

Remus, feeling extremely relieved smiled and started a conversation and the boys picked up their friendship where they left off.

When they arrived at Hogsmeade, Lily met up with them and they walked through the shops together. It was a beautiful sunny day and they enjoyed a butterbeer ice cream together. Remus looked at the beaten up silver watch his dad left him and saw that it was 12:55pm.

"I need to meet up with someone, I'll find you in a little bit." Remus said to them as he walked to the Boar's Head Pub. He looked to make sure no one was watching him, and he walked behind the building.

"1:04, where are they?" Remus asked to himself. Suddenly he heard a crash of metal behind him and a groan. He spun around and saw Professor Estrella and another Brazilian man, Leonardo both on the ground next to a metal garbage can.

"Sorry, Leo, I didn't know that there would be garbages here." the young professor said as he got up. He held out his hand to Leonardo who was still lying on the ground. He had a long nose and a long face and long black hair to his shoulders.

"It's okay, I think I'll need one." Leonardo said in the same warm accent as Estrella. He then threw up in the metal garbage can in front of him.

"First time apparation is rough for most." Estrella explained.

"Next time we'll take an airplane, Esteban!" Leonardo stated rather loudly as he stood up.

"I'll never go on one of those muggle metal death traps!" The professor exclaimed. The couple began arguing in Portuguese and Remus was stuck in the middle.

"Excuse me. . ." Remus said quietly.

"Ah, yes, Remus! Good to see you! This is Leonardo." The professor said.

"Nice to meet you, sir." Remus said politely.

"No, no. Call me Leonardo or Leo for short."

"And you're like me?" Remus asked.

"A wizard, no. But a werewolf, yes." Leo said.

"You're not a wizard?" Remus asked in disbelief. He realized that that may have sounded rude so he added. "Sorry, I mean I've never heard of a muggle being a werewolf."

"That's because not many survive the bite. I was bitten when I was only 13 years old, I still remember that night clearly. I was hospitalized and I barely survived. But by the next full moon, I was back home and, you see, I slept in the same room as my brother and -" He began to cry.

"It's okay, you don't have to relive that again." Esteban said as he hugged Leonardo's tall frame.

"He woke up the next day, saw what happened, and ran away from home before his parents woke up." Esteban whispered to Remus. "I was a run away too, from the orphanage. My mom and dad died two years before in a fire. I knew they were wizards and I was starting to show magical abilities as well. All that survived from the fire was my dad's wand." Esteban explained.

"We met on the streets, homeless together. We were inseparable. We would steal food from restaurants, and sleep in abandoned buildings. I tried to hide my wolf side from him for a while." Leonardo said

"And I hide my magic." Esteban added.

"But after nine months, we both couldn't handle the lies anymore and confessed it at the same time." Leonardo explained.

"We accepted each other's abnormalities right away and supported each other. He encouraged me to study magic independently, and to apply to Castelobruxo, the Brazilian wizarding school, when I was 15." Esteban stated.

"And Esteban helped me through the tough transformations every month by turning into, oh what do you call it?" He asked.

"An Animagus. I can turn into a jaguar." Esteban explained. Remus looked lost. "An animagus is known to help calm a werewolf during their transformations."

"And then around ages 21, we realized that we were in love. If it were legal, we would be married right now." Leo said as he looked into Esteban eyes lovingly. "And when Esteban came home unexpectedly, telling me what happened to him, I helped him prepare for his first transformation last month."

"What was it like for you?" Remus asked shyly.

"Excruciating. Like you said." Esteban said shortly.

"And now, we are both starving for revenge from Frederick Greyback." Leonardo said.

"How are we going to get him?" Remus asked.

"No, no, no! You are not going to do anything, Remus! You're just a kid. This is adult business." The young professor said.

"But-" Remus stuttered.

"No! We will find him today, and take care of it tomorrow night, alone!" He added.

"Can I at least know how?" Remus muttered.

"When you're a werewolf for a long time, you develop certain skills. For instance, I am able to smell like you do the day of a full moon all the time." Leonardo said.

"Really?" Remus asked in wonder. He always liked how he had special abilities the day of a full moon.

"Yes, and I'm able to smell who's a werewolf right now. So we will go through Hogsmeade tonight, and I will find Frederick Greyback. Esteban said that he might not look like himself because of a pollywolly thing?" Leo asked Esteban.

"A polyjuice potion." He corrected him.

"Right. But I'll be able to smell the werewolf in him anyway." Leo said.

"That's so cool!' Remus exclaimed.

"And then we'll catch him off guard when he's not a werewolf tomorrow night and take him to the authorities." Esteban finished.

Remus heard a whistle. "I have to go back to school now, thank you so much!" Remus said. They said goodbye and Remus returned to the carriages. _I need to find a way to come back here tomorrow night …_

"Hey Remus, come sit with us!" James called to him. Remus sat with them.

"Where were you all day?" Sirius asked.

"Just being boring and studying with Lily and Severus." Remus lied.

"Well you missed the most entertaining thing ever. Professor Mcgonagall actually had a pint and started dancing with Hagrid! Immagine that!" James said while laughing.

"You used the invisibility cloak?" Remus asked. His mind began to wonder on the possibilities the cloak would open for him tomorrow night.

"Yeah, also some 7th years showed us a secret tunnel that leads from Hogsmeade to Hogwarts!" Sirius added.

"Ooh, I want to see that when we get back!" Remus said. His plan was complete. He would borrow/steal James's invisibility cloak tomorrow night and use the secret tunnel to travel to Hogsmeade. _Then I will be able to help finish what I started and finally put Greyback in jail. Perfect._


	34. The Killing Curse

Chapter 34: The Killing Curse

During the day of May 12th, the time on Remus's old watch seemed to tick as fast as rocks are eroded by the sea. Remus anxiously awaited nightfall. After what seemed like an eternity of schoolwork, teachers, laughing with friends, studying, and eating, it was finally 10:30 and it was time to go. Remus carefully pulled the invisibility cloak and the marauder's map from James's trunk at the end of his bed. Remus managed to add a few faculty's names to the map like Mcgonagall, Dumbledore, Malfoy, and Argus Filch so his plan wouldn't be ruined by being caught.

He walked to the secret tunnel that his friends showed him yesterday silently. He walked through the damp tunnel until he came to the end. He lifted up the hatch and found himself in a basement. He found the stairs and discovered he was in Honeydukes. He tiptoed through the store and walked out on the silent street.

 _Where would they be?_ Remus asked himself as he looked around. He walked around the empty streets for a while without any luck. _This is stupid. I don't even know where I'm going. I should just go back to Hogwarts._

Remus turned around but heard a man's voice saying something in Portuguese.

Remus turned to the voice and surely enough, it was Leonardo. Professor Estrella approached the door of the small house and whispered "Alohomora", and the door opened and the two men entered. Remus's heart pounded and he walked to outside the now closed door and listened.

"Wake up, Greyback!" He heard Estrella say.

"Bloody hell, what are you doing in my house? I'm calling the cops." Remus heard a frail old lady's voice say. Remus was confused.

"Give it up, Greyback! We know it's you." Estrella said angrily.

"It was worth a try." Remus heard the familiar raspy voice say. "And who are you?"

"Hands in the air! Good. You don't remember me, bastard?" Estrella asked.

"Nope. I don't remember a Mexican ever." Greyback said.

"Really?" Leonardo asked sarcastically.

"Wait, wait a minute. You're that teacher that I bite at Hogwarts, right? How'd that full moon go?" Greyback laughed.

"Shut up right now!" Leonardo screamed.

"Yep now I can smell you both are werewolves. You already found a pack for yourself, Pedro? Good for you!" Greyback cunningly said.

"I said shut up!" Leonardo screamed again.

"And you, Pablo, where's your wand?" Greyback asked. There was silence. "Oh, I see, he's a muggle werewolf. Never seen that before."

"Be quiet, and hands in the air." Estrella said.

"You really should have come in with more than one armed man to try to take me down." Greyback said.

"Sit down!" Estrella screamed.

"No I don't think I will." Greyback said calmly.

"He said sit down!" Leonardo yelled and Remus heard he took a couple steps closer. Suddenly he heard a struggle and glass breaking and he heard Professor Estrella yell "Petrificus Tot-" but was interrupted by Greyback screaming "Expelliarmus!"

Remus heard the sound of a wand hitting the ground. And a gasp from Leonardo.

"Let Leonardo go, please. We'll go home and not tell anyone you're here. Just don't hurt him." Remus heard Estrella plead.

"Who is this guy to you, Professor, anyway?" Greyback asked. There was silence. "I mean you can't be brothers, a bit too touchy-feely for friends - you're queer!"

"Help me, Esteban!" Leonardo squeaked.

"Please, it doesn't matter. We're the only ones who know you're here. We'll go home and you'll never see us again." Estrella said.

"Now that's a lie." Greyback said.

"What do you -" Estrella asked

"LIES! Remus, come inside!" Greyback shouted.

Remus's heart stopped. He was petrified with fear. He grasped his wand hard and thought to himself. _What do I do? What do I do?!_

"No, he can't be here!" Estrella said in disbelief.

"He's here alright. I can smell the sweet boy right outside the door." Greyback growled. "Remus if you don't come inside, I'll kill Leonardo. 3. 2. -"

Remus barged in the door and pointed his wand at Greyback. Remus gulped and his whole body shook before the large man who pointed his wand at Leonardo's head in a chokehold.

"Now, now, my dear boy. Put down your wand." Frederick Greyback said sinisterly as he dug his wand in deeper into Leonardo's temple.

"Listen to him, Remus. There's nothing we can do. You shouldn't even be here." Professor Estrella

"No more!" Remus said.

"No more what, Remus?" Greyback asked

"No more will die for me. Let him go. Aim your wand at me." Remus said determinedly.

"Remus, stop it!" Professor Estrella said.

"Yes, Remus don't do this!" Leonardo screamed.

"No. Let him speak. This is compelling." Greyback ordered.

"You murderer will kill no more. It ends tonight. Duel me." Remus said his hand began to shake.

"My boy, you can't even hold a wand steady." Greyback laughed as he squeezed Leonardo's neck tighter. Remus held his two hands together. "But if you insist. . ." Greyback said and he released Leonardo.

"No! Remus, don't!" Estrella said.

"I have to." Remus said with tears in his eyes.

"Listen to us, Remus, don't do this. You are so young. You have so much to live for still." Leonardo said.

"It ends tonight." Remus said.

"I know my brother wanted me to save you for him, but I want to end your life tonight, little twat. Now, bow my boy." Greyback said. Remus stood on the other side of the living room and bowed.

"You can even have the first swing, Remus. Show me what they taught you in school." Frederick said.

Remus prepared himself and screamed "Petrificus Totalus" and a line of blue light shot out of his wand.

"Protego" Greyback simply said and the blue light disappeared. "My turn" He sang. "Crucio!"

Remus crumbled to the floor in pain. He screamed and dug his fingernails into his palms. _You can get through this, it's just like a transformation._ Remus said to himself. He took a deep breath and stopped screaming. He looked Greyback in his eye and screamed "Stupefy!" and a bright red ball of light shot at Greyback.

Though it didn't cause Greyback to lose consciousness as he hoped, it caused him to stumble back and interrupted the crucio curse. Remus quickly got to his feet and screamed

"Relashio"

"Stingumonous Maxima!"

"Incarcerous!"

But Frederick Greyback blocked each one easily and became red with anger. Remus, petrified with fear, sat on his knees and watched Frederick grow as he stood tall. Remus's wand slipped from his fingers and rolled forward. Frederick aimed his wand at the small boy acrossed the room and said calmly "Goodbye Remus Lupin. Avada Kedavra!"

Remus closed his eyes, awaiting the impact of the green light. but he heard someone shout "No!" and a thud hit the floor in front of him. He opened his eyes and saw Leonardo's stiff body lying in front of him.

"Leonardo!" Professor Estrella screamed as he knelt beside his body.

"Don't worry you'll all see your gay muggle soon." Frederick Greyback chuckled. He raised his wand again and said "Avada-"

But The Professor quickly picked up Remus's wand that was lying next to him and screamed "Avada Kedavra!"

Remus flinched as the green light from the professor's wand shot through the air and hit Frederick Greyback in the chest. Frederick Greyback's body went limp and he fell to the floor. His now lifeless crystal blue eyes were still open, staring directly into Remus's brown eyes. _He's dead. I can't believe it, he's actually dead._


	35. It's not fair

Chapter 35:

Remus was still staring into the eyes of the dead Frederick Greyback when Esteban Estrella shook his shoulders. "Remus. Remus, come back to me." Remus looked to the professor.

 _He saved my life by using an unforgivable curse._ Remus thought.

"Come now, you have to go back to Hogwarts. Neighbors probably heard the noise, they'll come any second now." The professor said frantically.

Remus looked down at Leonardo's body. _He hardly knew me and he threw himself in front of the curse._

"Remus! Listen to me! You can't be seen here. You can't be seen with the dead. I'll make sure that they think it was only Leonardo and I who confronted Greyback. You have to go." The Professor ranted.

"Here. Here's your wand, Remus. Go home." He said as he held the wand out in front of him. Remus stared at it and thought _that wand killed someone._

"Take it, Remus!" The Professor screamed. "Go, now, before someone comes!" Remus snapped into reality.

"Thank you, Professor." Remus said, wanting to say so much more but he couldn't find the words.

"I'm not your professor anymore, Remus." Estrella said.

"You've taught me more than any professor at Hogwarts. I will always call you professor. As you should always call Leonardo your husband when you tell of his bravery. A title's just a title until you add meaning behind it." Remus said very maturely. The professor looked at him and smiled.

"Your body is young but your mind is ancient, Remus Lupin. Go now." Esteban Estrella said while proudly smiling.

Remus stood up and gently grabbed his wand and the invisibility cloak by the door. He took one last look at the young professor, his husband, and the murderer and paused for a moment as he glanced at the clock on the wall.

"What is it Remus?" The professor asked.

"It's midnight, Friday May 13th: the anniversary of how this all started. Six years ago tonight Fenrir Greyback attacked me." They said their last goodbyes and Remus threw the cloak over his head and vanished into the night.

"I'm sorry to interrupt your class, Professor, but I need to borrow Mr. Lupin a while." Headmaster Dumbledore said to Professor Malfoy.

 _He must be going to tell me the wonderful "news" now._

"What did you do, Remus?" James whispered.

"Yeah, did you do some secret awesome marauding last night?" Sirius asked.

"No. I don't know what he wants." Remus lied.

"Come now, Mr. Lupin." Dumbledore said. Remus gathered his belongings and walked in silence with the professor to his office. His mother and father were there, sitting in anticipation for whatever news was so important to travel all the way to Hogwarts to hear in person.

"Remus, are you alright? We were so concerned that something terrible happened to you." His mother said while hugging him.

"I'm fine, mum." Remus said.

"Headmaster Dumbledore, what do you need to tell us?" Remus's father asked politely.

"Early this morning Frederick Greyback was killed in Hogsmeade." Dumbledore said.

"This is wonderful news! Finally we can sleep at night knowing that this nightmare is over!" Mr. Lupin said excitedly as he held his hand. His mother hugged Remus tightly.

"Who killed him?" Remus asked out of curiosity of Dumbledore's response.

"Yes, was it an auror that tracked him down?" Mr. Remus asked.

"No. It was actually Remus's former teacher named Professor Esteban Estrella." Dumbledore responded.

"Was that the bloke who saved the group of students just two months ago in the Astronomy tower? The one who was turned and wrongfully kicked out of Hogwarts?" Mr. Remus asked.

"Yes. It appears that he and a muggle friend tracked Greyback down by themselves. Frederick killed his friend and was about to kill him when he killed Frederick." Dumbledore responded.

"He's a true hero! Can I please meet with him in person?" Mr. Lupin asked.

"I'm afraid it's not as simple as that." Dumbledore responded.

"What do you mean?" Remus asked, suddenly drawn back into the conversation.

"Professor Estrella is being charged with using the unforgivable curse and faces up to life in Azkaban." Dumbledore said solemnly.

"Surely you're not serious." Mr. Lupin shockingly said.

"I'm afraid I am." Dumbledore said as he took a seat.

"But this is complete bollocks!" Remus yelled.

"Remus, watch your mouth!" Mrs. Lupin snipped.

"Sorry, mum. But the professor's a hero, not a criminal." Remus said.

"They're called the unforgivable curses for a reason, Remus." Dumbledore said. Remus sat in silence. "His trial is scheduled for next week Friday."

"Remus, in the meantime, I promise I will try to find Professor Estrella the best Lawyer in London and I'll talk to the ministry." Mr. Lupin said.

"What do I do?" Remus asked very upset.

"Go back to your friends. Have fun, study, and be a normal student. None of this concerns you anymore." Professor Dumbledore said.

"It's what you've always wanted, right?" Mrs. Lupin asked. Remus nodded.

"Good. Now, go back to class and enjoy your youth." Dumbledore said. Remus said goodbye to his parents and Dumbledore. He walked through the corridors partly relieved but mostly depressed by the wonderful news.

 _It's not fair._


	36. The Trial

Chapter 36

 _19/05/1971_

 _Dear Professor Estrella,_

 _This is now my seventh letter to you and I haven't heard back from you. It is totally unfair that you are being convicted for being a hero. I want to help in any way possible. I am traveling to the ministry tomorrow to watch the trial with my father. He apparently was able to assign a very good lawyer, named Nancy Telle, to your case. Also he's working with the ministry to defend you further. I will see you in two days. Please write back to me._

 _-Remus._

Remus folded the sloppily written letter and attached it to Vladimir's tallon. Vladimir disappeared into the night sky.

"Hey, Remus, you've been writing a lot of letters ever since that meeting with Dumbledore, is everything alright?" Sirius asked. The three marauders were sitting in the Gryffindor boys dorm, staring at Remus. It looked as if he had not slept in days.

"Yeah, everything's fine." Remus said shortly.

"No. Obviously something isn't fine." James said.

"What are you talking about? I'm fine." Remus said as he laid down in his bed.

"Is this about what happened with Professor Estrella? You were his favorite student and very close to him." Sirius said. Remus remained silent.

"Remus, you shouldn't be worrying about him. They can't convict him of being a hero." James said.

"Yeah, he single handedly took down a serial killer." Peter said.

"They should be handing him an award, not handcuffs!" Sirius snipped.

"Besides, there's nothing we can do about it now." James added.

"Honestly, I'm fine." Remus said

"It's funny hearing you saying honestly." James mumbled.

"And why's that?" Remus asked.

"This entire year you've been so secretive." James said strongly.

"We mean we have shared everything with you, but it still seems we know about the same as the first day. When will you open up to us?" Sirius asked frustrated.

"I don't have any secrets." Remus said.

"We don't even know your favorite color! Not to mention your fears, dreams, and other aspects about your personal life." James said steaming.

"It's green." Remus said, hoping to help.

"That's not good enough, Remus Lupin. You go away to these secretive doctor appointments every month and you come back scarred and bruised. And I looked up the hospital you told us you go to. It's not even real!" James yelled.

Remus sat in silence. _What do I tell them? Should I tell them the truth._

"So, for the first time in our friendship, be honest. What are you doing every month?" Sirius asked.

 _Shit. What do I say?_

"My mother is the one who's ill, not me." Remus lied.

"What?" James asked.

"She has stage two breast cancer, and I go home and visit her every month." Remus said.

"Oh my god, Remus, I'm so sorry." James said and he sat down.

"Me too." Sirius said.

"And me as well. But why didn't you tell us the truth?" Peter asked.

"It brings me great pain mentioning it." Remus said.

"But why do you have symptoms of a migraine every month?" James asked.

"It's not a migraine, it's a panic attack." Remus said.

"And the scars and bruises?" Peter asked. Remus sat in silence, unable to think of a good answer.

"Does your dad take his frustrations out on you as well?" Sirius asked as he held out his forearm revealing cigarette burns.

Remus nodded. He felt bad making his dad sound horrible.

"Thank you, Remus for telling us the truth." James said.

Remus nodded again. _I'm such a liar._

"If you ever need anything, just let us know." Sirius said.

"Thanks." Remus said shortly. "I'm going to the trial tomorrow with my dad. Could one of you take quality notes for me?"

"Sure. I guess." James said.

"Quality." Remus repeated.

"They'll be the best notes ever!" James said enthusiastically and sarcastically.

"They better be." Remus said. "Goodnight, everyone." Remus said as he turned his back to them.

"Goodnight." They said.

Moonlight was already snuggled up between his knees like usual, her soft purrs meditating Remus's anxiety.

Remus Lupin and his father sat in the audience of the courtroom, awaiting the start of the trial. Remus thought back to the day he and his father watched Fenrir's trial. It seemed so long ago. Today, the courtroom was just as packed with reporters and spectators.

The judge and jury entered, followed by the prosecution team, and finally the defense. Remus looked to a very exhausted looking professor. He was in very fancy purple robes and looked very respectable.

"Opening statements!" The judge ordered.

"Witches and Wizards. Take one look at the man in front of you, he single handedly stopped the terrible serial killer, Frederick Greyback. He's a hero. By the end of this trial, I know you will all see that he used that curse as an automatic self defense mechanism to save his own life. Men like him do not belong in Azkaban. They belong with the award of the Order of Merlin!" the lawyer, Nancy Telle _,_ said confidently. The jury looked impressed and the prosecution took the stand.

"Yes, he did stop a serial killing werewolf, but how? He defied our laws - the laws that hold this fragile community together. He used an unforgivable curse - no - the most unforgivable curse. Witches and Wizards, he used the killing curse." The sharp nosed prosecution lawyer said. There was a small gasp from the jury. "If we begin letting just anyone use the unforgivable curses for "self-defense", our entire society will fall to mayhem." He paused and looked to the jury. "And, respectful gentlemen such as yourselves should be aware of the whole truth of this case. I don't believe Mr. Estrella used that terrible unforgivable curse solely as a self defence weapon. No, I believe that the whole story is hidden. You see, I did some investigating. I found not only was Frederick Greyback indeed a werewolf, no. The muggle who was found at the scene was also a werewolf."

There were murmurs and Remus gulped.

"Not only the muggle. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, Esteban Estrella is a werewolf." the lawyer shouted as he pointed to Estrella. The audience gasped and Estrella's face went white as he sunk in his chair.

"I object!" Nancy Telle screamed.

"Sustained." The judge said. "Continue, Mr. Goyal."

"Not only is he a werewolf, he was turned only 2 months ago by Mr. Frederick Greyback. So, it is in my belief that on the Friday last, Mr. Estrella confronted his alpha, Mr. Greyback, and murdered him so he would become alpha in their pack. If you are unaware, that is how werewolves live. They live in packs and one must always be the alpha."

"I object! This is false information. It was proven that werewolves do not have a pack mentality decades ago." Nancy Telle yelled.

"Sustained again. We will let the jury decide what to believe, Mrs. Telle. Now sit down!" The judge snipped back.

 _Oh no, this trial is going to go horribly._ Remus thought.

Remus Lupin's predictions were correct because by the end of the short trial, Esteban Estrella was convicted of using an unforgivable curse and was sentenced to 10 years in Azkaban. Remus looked to Estrella and he looked as if all the hope and happiness had been ripped away from him. Remus watched as an auror waved his wand at Estrella and his respectable purple robes changed into grey and black striped prison wear. He handed the auror his wand and the auror snapped it in half. _That wand was the only thing Estrella had left of his family._ He held out his hands and they were magically bound together. The auror put his hand on his shoulder and the pair apparated away to Azkaban.

 _This is all my fault. He came to Frederick because I asked him to. If it weren't for me, he could be in Rio with his husband, happy._

Remus and his dad left the courtroom in silence, shocked at what had happened.


	37. End of May

Chapter 37:

Five days after the trial, Remus decided to act normally and enjoy the last few weeks of school. He was in the Gryffindor common room studying when James and Sirius literally picked him up and dragged him upstairs. Peter followed behind and closed the door to the empty dormitory.

"What was all that about?" Remus asked as he was thrown on his bed.

James reached in his pocket and retrieved the Marauder's Map. "I was going to look on this map to see what Sneverus was up to, and I realized that there are like six more people on the map. Did you do this?" James asked.

"Yes." Remus said, unsure how they felt about it.

"Oh my Merlin, Remus Lupin. This is the most brilliant thing I've ever seen. I could hug you!" James said.

"I can't believe you figured out a way of following more than one person at one time. This changes everything." Sirius said.

"It really wasn't too complicated…" Remus trailed off.

"Do you understand what this means? We can get away with anything now!" James said.

"I don't understand." Peter said dumbfounded.

"We could walk around the castle in the middle of the night and just hide when we see a name coming our way." Sirius said.

"And we will, tomorrow night." James said menacingly.

"Aren't you all forgetting that we have final exams in just five days, June 1st?" Remus asked.

"Remus Lupin, aren't you forgetting that you promised that you would always be up to marauding? Or do we need to shrink you and feed you to Vladimir to remind you?" James asked.

"Fine, fine. I'll prank with you." Remus grumbled. "What's the plan?"

"Drum roll, please…." James said. The three other boys patted their hands to their legs in anticipation.

"We are going to prank Professor Malfoy!" James said. There was a long silence following James's announcement. Even Sirius remained silent, though he was usually excited for whatever James came up with.

"You can't be serious, James." Sirius questioned.

"No, you're Sirius. But yes, I'm serious. We are going to prank that awful professor."

"James, that's a suicide mission!" Sirius yelled.

"Come on, Sirius. I didn't expect you to be this cowardly. It's about time that the professor got a taste of his own poison." James said.

"But when we get caught the punishment will be the most severe it's ever been!" Remus reasoned.

"We won't be caught. We have the map and the cloak." James said as he held up the map.

"Still, it's a teacher. Do you really think we'll be able to outsmart a teacher?" Peter cried.

"I think we could surely surpass that idiot's wits." James said. The three boys stared blankly at him. "Now are you with me?"

"What's your ingenious plan?" Remus asked suspiciously.

James took out a journal and presented a well thought out prank for 10 whole minutes. When he finished, he looked at his friends blank faces nervously. The boy's room was silent until Sirius let out a menacing cackle. Peter joined him nervously in a series of small "Ha" noises. Remus picked up the journal and began examining the plan furiously. The three boys turned to Remus whose eye was twitching.

"Come on, Remus. You promised!" James said.

"Well, the plan is still flawed and I will fix it and join you on one condition." Remus said.

"Flawed? How could it be flawed?" James asked frantically.

"Look on page 11: the escape plan." Remus said as he threw the journal to James.

"So?" James asked annoyed.

"Your plan where we take the moving staircases is too risky, that will be the main traffic area for teachers responding to the crime. All it would take is one to bump into us underneath the invisibility cloak and we are expelled." Remus said quickly.

"But-" James pleaded. But Remus cut him off.

"Also, did you ever think if the staircases moved us off course? We would be stuck somewhere in the castle when Brian the prefect will notice we are missing from bed."

"Huh." James muttered. "So you would find a better way?" James asked Remus.

"Yes. I will find a better escape path and join you only under one condition." Remus repeated.

"What's that?" Sirius asked.

"We are going to wait to do it until after the final exams." Remus said. "That way he won't be able to change my outstanding exam grade if we were to be caught." Remus also thought to himself. _Also tomorrow night is the full moon and I don't think I would be much use to the plan while I am a werewolf._ Remus stared wide eyed at James, hoping he would take his offer.

James sat for a long time staring at the journal until he finally looked up at Remus and held out his hand. "It's a deal." Remus shook his hand.

"Well then, if you will excuse me, I must go to the library to study." Remus said as he looked at the time soon approaching 7pm.

"Bye, nerd." Sirius said.

"Good evening, Lily and Severus." Remus said as he sat down with a stack of dusty old books.

"Hi, Remus." Lily said without looking up from her Defense Against the Dark Arts text.

"How are you today, Remus?" Severus asked. He swiped his long oily black hair out of his face.

"I'm doing fine. I'm going to miss class again tomorrow and the next day for my appointment. I want to study all I can tonight." Remus said.

Lily and Severus exchanged a glance to each other. Severus opened his mouth but didn't make a noise. Instead Lily spoke.

"You don't have to lie about where you are going anymore. We know the truth." Lily said kindly.

Remus' eyes widened and he panicked at the thought of them being smart enough to figure out the hairy truth. Then he remembered his other story he told the marauders.

"You know about my mom?" Remus asked. They nodded. "But how?"

"Well, Peter told us yesterday. He felt terrible that he let it slip, but he doesn't seem the best at keeping secrets." Severus said.

"Don't be angry at him." Lily said.

"I'm not." Remus said quickly.

"Oh, okay that's good I guess." Severus said suspiciously.

There was an awkward pause among the three. Remus suddenly had a thought appear in his head and did not think to not blurt it out.

"What is your relationship with each other?" Remus said with instant regret.

Immediately the pair blushed.

"I'm sorry, I-" Remus stuttered.

"It's okay, we were meaning to tell you. We discussed our feelings toward each other and realized we both have interest in dating." Lily explained.

"And?" Remus asked on the edge of his seat.

"We decided to continue being friends for now. I am not ready for a relationship quite yet, but we figured if in a few years things fall into place, then we will date." Lily said. Remus looked to Severus who seemed to agree with what Lily was saying.

"Good, now that we've had that awkward discussion, what subject shall we start with?" Remus asked dryly.

The next night Remus said goodbye to his friends at breakfast and left to "visit his mom". When he got there he was surprised to find Madame Pomphrey wrapping bandages around an unconscious third year Hufflepuff boy's face named Davey Dudgeon.

"What happened to him?" Remus asked.

"Complete and utter stupidity." Madame Pomphrey huffed.

"Pardon?" Remus asked politely.

"Quite a few students were found running around the Whomping Willow tree this morning, and it wasn't the first time. Mr. Filch has been chasing children away from it all year ever since they planted it. Apparently they made a game to see who could get the closest to the trunk without being hit by a branch. It was all fun and games until this boy got hurt - he'll be fine, of course."

"They could have discovered the knot that paralyses the tree or the tunnel." Remus realized.

"Yes. It's good that this happened. It gives Dumbledore an excuse to add the Whomping Willow to his long list of forbidden places of Hogwarts." Madame Pomphrey said as she finished placing the bandages on his face, that were already absorbing what looked like many lines of blood from scratches. "This is how you usually look every month." Madame Pomphrey told Remus. Remus gulped in horror. She took out a perfume like bottle filled with purple liquid and sprayed it over the bandages. "But then just like magic…" Madame Pomphrey said quietly. Remus watched as the blood absorbed in the bandages seemed to be disappearing back into his face. She unwrapped the bandages and revealed a perfectly healthy, not scarred, boy.

After watching the fascinating medical magic, Remus spent the rest of the day studying in the hospital wing, fighting the pain in his aching body. When he finally had enough of memorizing the different uses of a Trefrelagal plant, Remus picked up the latest copy of _The Daily Prophet_ and read the headliner.

"Fired Hogwarts Professor/Werewolf Only Sentenced to 10 Years for Murder, Should Be Life."

 _It should be nothing, any time in Azkaban at all is cruel punishment in itself._ Remus thought to himself. Angry, he turned the page and read another interesting headline.

"Muggle Man Murdered With Alleged Killing Curse: Strange Sorcery Symbol Soars Above the Scene."

" _What?"_ Remus thought and he kept reading.

"A London Muggle, Grant Hendle, was found dead in his home last night, unmarked by a weapon or poison. Muggle authorities could not find the cause of death, while the Ministry suspected it was probably the killing curse due to the strange magical symbol outside. Witnesses state that it appeared to be a green skull with a serpent exiting it's jaw. While none of this information is confirmed, we, at The Daily Prophet ponder why did this innocent muggle die at the unmistakable hands of magic?"

" _That's odd."_ Remus thought. He looked to his watched and realized it was time to leave. He said goodnight to Madame Pomphrey and walked out to the Whomping Willow alone.

" _Well at least my next few transformations won't have to be at Hogwarts."_ Remus pondered gratefully as he skillfully dodged the wild willow branches and poked the knot in the trunk with a long stick. The willow froze and Remus Lupin disappeared into the hidden tunnel beneath the tree, unaware that eyes were watching him from the castel.


	38. Second Semester Finals

Chapter 38:

On June 1st, Remus went to his first examination at 10am, Herbology. Madame Sprouse had a tricky memorization test prepared where she had a willing volunteer, Frank Longbottom (a 6th year Hufflepuff who excelled at Herbology) eat a different poisonous plant in front of each student. She then gave the student five minutes to search the large greenhouse for the combination of plants to cure him. Remus passed easily along with Lily and Severus when they had their turns.

"Hey, Remus, I need to talk to you." Severus whispered to Remus.

"Okay. We'll talk later." Remus replied, smiling as Remus watched James go and Frank turned a nasty yellow color and his ears and nose grew large.

"Why would Frank want to do this?" Lily asked Remus.

Remus looked to Frank who was laughing while watching James looking absolutely dumbfounded of what the correct counter plant was. He picked up a long pink and yellow mossy plant and shrugged and brought it up to Frank.

"If I would eat that right now, I would die!" Frank said while laughing at James' failure.

"Poor job, Mr. Potter. Perhaps study next time instead of attending to your reflection." Professor Sprouse snarled.

"It's probably an ego thing. He get's to show off what he's best at in front of all of us." Remus decided. Remus turned his attention to a rare sight next to him, James Potter blushing. "Don't worry about it, James." Remus encouraged.

"Peter, it's your turn." Madame Pomphrey said.

"Well this will at least make me feel better. He won't do better than me, for sure." James said rudely to Sirius as he watched Peter walk up to a normal appearing Frank.

Frank ate a shiny looking sparkly black root and his hands shrank to the size of a doll's.

"Easy, that's a Yesaofly root, found in southern Kenya. The counter is it's leaf which should be in the middle of the third isle, _mixed_ with some peppermint leaf." Peter said confidently as he hurried to the ingredients and brought them back quickly. He ripped apart the leaves and set them down. Frank picked it up with his tiny hand and was about to eat it when-

"-WAIT! Frank, don't eat the leaves. _Everyone_ knows that you must _rub_ the mixture behind the left ear to have it work." Peter said. He then rubbed the two leaves behind his left ear and the entire class looked in awe as Frank's hands returned to a normal size.

Madame Pomphrey lead the entire class in a hearty applause. "Well done, Peter! Top marks!"

Peter smiled and enjoyed the applause. He turned to James and smiled and said rather cunningly, "I can help you out next year."

James winced at this insult, but shook his hand in respect.

Since Dumbledore never found a qualified replacement for Professor Estrella, the students got to skip the practical portion of the exam where they had to point out constellations to the teacher and instead just complete the handwritten test with the Slytherins. Remus, again, flew through the entire exam effortlessly and was able to answer all the questions of the Lunar cycle easily. After he finished, Lily finished, then Severus. Remus, still at his desk waiting for the remainder of the test looked to James and Sirius who looked like they were doing fine. Same with Narcissia, Sirius's cousin, and Lucius. Peter, however, was looking at his paper with an expression of utter confusion upon his face.

"How did it go?" Remus asked the Marauders as they descended down the long spiral of stairs.

"Not good." Peter whimpered.

"Honestly, don't care about my grades." James said. Remus could tell that he was secretly still upset with the Herbology exam.

Sirius shrugged. "I'm just glad we don't have any more tests today so we can eat!"

"Yep. Just _History Of Magic_ tomorrow, and _Defense Against the Dark Arts_ on Friday morning. Then we will be set for our prank on Friday night." James said.

"Do you guys remember anything from History of Magic?" asked Sirius.

"Of course!" exclaimed Remus.

"Not you, nerd. I think I slept through that ghosts boring lectures every day." Sirius said.

The next day, the tired students walked out of the History of Magic's lecture hall at the end of the exam. The Marauders walked toward the dining hall. Severus unintentionally followed them with his head buried in his defense against the dark arts textbook, unnoticed by the gang. Sirius clenched his hand.

"I don't think I'll ever be able to use this hand again!" Sirius complained.

"Four writing prompts? What a crazy git, that Professor Binns." James said.

"What did you write about, Remus, for the question asking how the Great Troll War shaped our troll/wizard relationships today?" Peter asked nervously.

"Well, I started by stating -" Remus began proudly, but was cut off by James.

"Ah, you're worse than Binns. I don't want to hear anything about History of Magic!"

"Fine." Remus said slightly hurt.

"Have you figured out our escape path yet for tomorrow night?" James asked excitedly. Severus's head curiously looked up, listening.

"Oh, shoot, not yet. I'll do that right now. We don't want to get caught tomorrow. See ya!" Remus said and he ran off down the hall. Unbeknownst to Remus, a very curious Severus was following him.

"Class, be seated and silent. Your final exam will consist of a written portion, a tricky multiple choice 100 question test, and a final duel. Begin the essay now." Professor Malfoy said and thick essay booklets and quills appeared on their desks. Remus flew through the essay in his small, neat cursive and waited once again for the rest of the class to finish. The essay was on defence against vampires.

 _Finally, he doesn't focus on werewolves. Probably thought we had too much practice this year, wouldn't want his students to do well, of course. He deserves humiliation tonight. It's good that I found the perfect route._

The test was even easier than the essay, he looked to James and Sirius who seemed to agree by the way they finished early too. Remus handed in his test to Professor Malfoy, eager to see his essay score (Professor graded the essays while the students took their tests). Malfoy, with a pained look handed Remus his neatly written essay.

 _85% Obviously he took some subjective liberties while grading. This could have been published in the textbook._ Remus looked up and opened his mouth, Mr. Malfoy gave a sinister smile, awaiting Remus to say something he could be punished for. _Better not say anything. My probably perfect score in the multiple choice test will make up for it._ Remus smiled back and set his essay down on Mr. Malfoy's desk and walked back to his seat.

"Now that everyone's finished, come and collect your multiple choice exams as I have already graded them. You can have five minutes to go over your many mistakes before the duels begin. First up, is Potter and Snape."

"98/100. Not bad at all." Remus told himself.

Lily looked over his shoulder at his score and disappointedly said "Good job, you beat me. I dropped the ball a bit and got a 94. Severus, what did you get?"

"Perfect." Severus said nonchalantly. "Remus, we still need to talk. I have to ask you about some things I saw you doi-."

"Congrats on the score, we'll talk later. You have to duel." Remus said.

"Please bow at your opponent." Mr. Malfoy said to Severus and James.

Severus gave a normal bow but James gave a flamboyant curtsy. "Begin." Professor Malfoy said as he rolled his eyes.

Severus sent green sparks at James using Verdimillious, but James dodged it using a shield charm. Remus could see James smile and sent a spell called "nosiusgrowreage." A yellow light hit Severus right in his nose and Severus covered his nose with his hands in pain. When he released, Severus's already large nose had grown twice as big as normal. The class laughed and Sirius took an enchanted picture on his magical camera. Severus, annoyed, calmly muttered the counter-curse and his nose shrunk to normal. While James was still laughing, Severus yelled "Expelliarmus" and James's wand flew into Severus' free hand. James looked wide eyed and stunned as Severus lifted his wand and said "Flipendo." And James went flying onto his back.

"Well done, Severus. 48/50, though work on your shielding spells. 10 points to Slytherin. James, take the duels more seriously next time, 40/50. Next is Narcissia verssus Lily."

James walked up to Remus, Peter, and Sirius in annoyance.

"Hey, at least we have this picture." Sirius said as he showed him the terrified moving Severus with a large nose. James laughed while Remus rolled his eyes and watched Lily dominate Narcissia. Next, a very quick Sirius was able to outsmart a very slow Domante and win. Peter, however, was quickly beaten by a cleaver Slytherin girl named Meghan Stecker. After a few other duels, Remus and Lucius were the last to be called.

"Begin." Mr. Malfoy said.

"Vermillious" Remus said at the same time as Lucius said

"Verdimillious"

A red stream of sparks emitted from Remus's wand while Lucius's wand emitted a green spark stream. The class oohed at the startling start. The streams met in the middle and both boys held on with two hands insink and tried to push forward, but neither would budge from the middle.

"Come on, half-blood! Show me what your sick muggle mother is dying for." Lucius said menacingly. Remus began to feel tired, and the green stream from Lucius's moved passed the middle, creeping toward him.

 _Bullocks! What do I do? What spell?_

The green sparks came closer.

 _Not first year, think, Remus. You can't lose again. Not after Frederick. You are not a loser. That murderer put your teacher in jail. You need something more powerful. Something to knock this prick out completely. Use your rage. . . That's it._

The green light was now almost at the tip of Remus's wand. Remus took a deep quick breath and quickly released his spell and jumped out of the way of the green sparks. It was like everything went into slow motion. Remus saw the sparks just nick the sleeve of his robe. Remus quickly did a uppercut swish of his wand and yelled "Stupify." Lucius's eyes widened as he helplessly saw a powerful red ball of energy being thrown right at his chest. Before he could react, the ball already hit him in the chest and sent him flying backward into the wall. The class was silent, watching Lucius, waiting for him to rise. But he didn't. The stupefy spell worked completely and Lucius was knocked out, cold.

The class cheered and Sirius and James lifted Remus's small body onto their shoulders. The class went crazy until Professor Malfoy yelled "Expelliarmus!" and Remus's wand went flying and Professor Malfoy caught it. The class went silent.

"Is there a problem, professor? Remus won the duel." James asked as he set Remus down.

"In all my years of teaching, I have never seen a first year perform the stupify charm successfully. It is apparent that you had experience." Professor Malfoy said curiously while examining Remus's wand. Remus stood still, not sure what to say. "Where did you learn that?"

"My d-dad." Remus said nervously. Mr. Malfoy stared at him like a hawk, obviously not buying it. "And I read advanced books from the library." Remus added.

A sinister smirk appeared on the pointed face of the Professor. "Ah, and tell me Remus, where did you find these advanced books?"

"What do you mean, sir?" Remus asked.

"Well, for the safety of our younger students here at Hogwarts, we keep advanced lesson books that contain advanced year 5 spells like "Stupify" where?" the Professor asked condescendingly.

"The restricted section." Remus muttered. There was a small murmur throughout the class.

"50 points from Gryffindor for going in the restricted section of the library." Professor Malfoy said. There was a groan from the Gryffindor students and a chuckle from the Slytherins.

Remus nodded and said "I apologize, Professor."

"But a 50/50 for the duel." Professor Malfoy said surprisingly. Remus looked up, confused.

"But he knocked out your nephew!" Narcissia Black shouted at the professor.

"5 points from Slytherin for interrupting me, Ms. Black." Malfoy said back. "I am awarding Mr. Lupin full credit for being powerful enough to earn my respect. You have a great talent for the dark arts and I see great things coming in your future, Mr. Lupin, just chose the right side." Professor Malfoy proudly said. Remus shuddered in discomfort of his approval.

"Thank you, sir." Remus said, not so surely. The bell rang and the class hurried out. Remus approached the professor who was still holding his wand. "Can I have that back, sir?" Remus asked.

The professor held it out and Remus grabbed one side, but the professor wouldn't let go. Mr. Malfoy leaned in close and whispered to Remus. "A war is coming, Remus Lupin. We need powerful young wizards like you to join our Lord's ranks." Remus looked up at the pale professor in confusion.

"What are you talking about, sir?" Remus asked scared.

"Remus come on!" James shouted at the door frame.

"You'll know soon enough." Professor Malfoy winked and he released Remus's wand. Remus walked away quickly and joined his friends, ignoring a stuttering Severus who was begging to talk to him.

 _What is Professor Malfoy talking about. What war is coming? Who is his Lord?_


	39. Friendship

Chapter 39:

"I can't believe we're actually doing this!" Remus said in a whispered shout from beneath the invisibility cloak. The four boys were now standing inside of the Defense against the Dark Arts classroom and outside the door that lead to Professor Malfoy's living quarters.

"Shhh, Remus! I have the dungbombs from Zonko's right here." James said as he held up two nasty looking brown balls with wicks. "We'll throw them in there and go to your escape route to get back to Gryffindor tower before anyone notices we are missing. Then Professor Malfoy will smell so bad for a week that no one will be able to be near to him."

"We'll be unknown legends for pranking a teacher!" Sirius said.

"Yeah, it will be great." Peter said nervously. Remus gave a small grunt and nodded.

"Ready one, two -" James said as he held the doorknob.

"Wait!" Remus whispered.

"What now?" James said.

"Can't you hear that? Malfoy is awake and talking to someone in there!" Remus asked.

The four boys put their ears against the door and listened, sure enough, there was a conversation going.

"My Lord, you heard of your followers accomplishments in London last week?" They heard Professor Malfoy's voice ask in an unusual high pitched voice.

"Yes, killing that filthy muggle, Grant Hendel. I am very proud of you all. Was it your idea?" A strange, airy, and snake like voice said.

"Yes, my Lord." Malfoy replied with pride.

The boys looked at each other in pure horror.

"Excellent work. I have decided you to be a leader in my forces, you will be my greatest ally." The voice replied.

"Thank you so much, my lord. I will not disappoint you. I am so grateful. Together we will return the wizarding world to the purest order." Professor said.

"Yes, and I will rise to power and sit on a throne of the skulls of the unworthy." The voice said loudly.

The boys, shaking looked at each other. James silently put his finger over his lips and lead the boys out of the classroom and into the hall. They walked in silence through a back route that Remus discovered until Sirius broke the silence.

"What the hell was that?" Sirius said in horror.

"I don't know." James said in confusion.

"Professor Malfoy killed a muggle!" Peter squeaked.

"We need to tell McGonagall and Dumbledore right away." Remus said.

"You can tell me right now why you are out of bed!" Professor McGonagall said angrily right behind them.

"Ah, Professor, you look ravishing this evening." James said.

"Yes, just miraculous." Sirius said after. He looked down at his watch and said "Is that the time? We better get to bed, right away. Sorry to bother you." He said and he took a step away.

"Not so fast! Now I was brought here tonight because someone believed that you would try to play a prank on Professor Malfoy." McGonagall said annoyed.

"Who believed such an outrageous idea?" James asked slightly scared.

"It was me." a voice came from the shadows. Severus Snape emerged into the light. He gave a dirty look to Remus.

"Mr. Snape, I told you to stay back." McGonagall said annoyed.

"It's okay, mam. I am not friends with any of these pranksters. Not anymore." Snape said directly to Remus.

"Severus." Remus said.

"No, Remus. You know what I realized, that you have been helping James all this time. All the daily hexes and curses. The intruder in my bathroom, and the menace at the Valentine's day dance. You were just pretending to be my friend so you could play more pranks on me. You are just James's minion, a zombie trying to please his master. So, when I overheard this prank, I knew you must be stopped." Severus said.

"Severus, I-" Remus said.

"No, Remus! Also, Professor I would like to report another crime of Remus Lupin's." Severus said.

"And what would that be?" McGonagall asked, interested.

"On the night he "claimed" to be visiting his ill mother, I witnessed him leave the castle and approach the whomping willow tree. He somehow made it stop moving and disappeared behind it."

"Remus, is that true? You didn't go visit your mother?" James asked upset.

"No, James, he's lying -" Remus panicked.

"Liar. You are such a liar." James said to Remus.

Remus exchanged a panicked glance with McGonagall.

"I am sorry, Mr. Snape, but there is no evidence whatsoever to prove Remus snuck out the other night. . . I in fact personally saw him go off with his dad. You must have been mistaken." Professor McGonagall said.

Severus squinted his eyes and said "Mam -"

"But you were certainly not mistaken about tonight! I see you have dungbombs in your hand, Mr. Potter. No doubt you were on your way to use them against Professor Malfoy." McGonagall accused.

"No, Professor, we just came from there, and we heard a terrifying conversation." Peter said, trying to help.

"So you admit you were going to prank a teacher?" McGonagall asked a shaking Peter. The other boys groaned.

Remus took a deep breath in and said "Yes, mam. But we stopped because we seriously heard the Professor talking with someone about a murder."

"Impossible. Professor Malfoy is one of the most respected teachers in Hogwarts. Stop trying to wiggle out of this situation. You are all in serious trouble." McGonagall yelled. The boys gulped.

"But, Professor!" Sirius yelled.

"Enough! 50 points will be taken from Gryffindor." Mcgonagall said.

"Mam!" James yelled.

"Each, Mr. Potter. Unless you'd like more?" McGonagall asked. The boys stayed silent. "Also, you will each serve detention cooking with the house elves on the day of the final feast before you get to eat."

"We're really sorry, Professor." Remus sincerely said.

"I expected so much more from all of you. Especially you, Remus Lupin. Now, go to bed, including you, Mr. Snape." McGonagall said to the five and she walked away.

"Severus." Remus said but Severus walked away toward the Slytherin Dorms.

"Come on, let's go to bed." Remus said.

"To the dorms, or the whomping willow?" Asked James suspiciously.

"You heard McGonagall, Severus was mistaken." Remus said as believably as possible.

"I saw your's and McGonagall's face, you both were lying." James said.

"No, I -" Remus stuttered.

"Whatever, let's go to bed." James said, still annoyed. Remus followed the boys in silence to their beds. For the first time, they didn't say goodnight. Remus laid awake in bed and held Moonlight and wept silently into her fur.


	40. The End of the Year

Chapter 40: Goodbye feast

After a long week of James refusing to talk to Remus, the goodbye feast finally came. It broke Remus to be ignored by James, even though Remus received top grades in every exam. Sirius and Peter tried to help Remus by still including him in conversations, but James refused to acknowledge he was there. Right after breakfast on Friday the tenth of June, the four boys were escorted into the kitchen by Professor McGonagall. They were amazed to find a large enchanted kitchen with at least 100 house elves hard at work. Professor McGonagall approached an older looking house female house elf with a mean expression.

"Excuse me, Mrs. Nika." McGonagall said.

"You are certainly excused, Madam. How may I help you?" Nika said in a shrill raspy voice.

"These boys will be serving detention in here to prepare for the feast tonight, servants to you and your staff." McGonagall said sternly as she scoured the boys.

"Servants, ey?" Nika asked as she eyed the boys up.

"Yes, and make sure they don't perform magic to assist themselves. Make them do everything by hand." McGonagall replied.

"Professor!" Sirius whined.

"No whining! And just to be sure, hand me your wands. You will get them back tonight." McGonagall said as she collected the wands. "Right then, may I suggest making them peel potatoes for the next 5 hours."

"Pro-" Sirius started saying but was given a death glare by the professor.

"I will see you tonight." McGonagall said coldly and left the boys in the kitchen.

"Okay, you all will work right here, peeling these potatoes. I don't want to have any dead weights in this kitchen, so you better finish in the five hours you have." The old house elf said sternly and left to yell at a younger house elf who just spilt a bag of flour.

"Wow, I have never seen a house elf who talked so well and rude to humans." Sirius said in astonishment. The boys stood around a table and started peeling potatoes.

"Me either, Sirius. I heard they are more educated at Hogwarts than at homes like ours. That it's the same as a job at Buckingham of the wizarding world." James said to Peter and Sirius, avoiding Remus.

"You have house elves?" Remus asked James in disbelief. His father always said that it was absolutely awful and embarrassing that slavery is still allowed in the wizarding world.

James ignored Remus and Sirius nudged James but he didn't talk. Sirius sighed and said "Yes we both do. Though Kreacher, our eldest house elf, can be pretty rude sometimes."

"But don't you think it's just like how muggles used to capture slaves?" Remus asked annoyed.

"They want to work." Sirius said, rather robotically like he was programed to.

"Huh." Remus said shortly. He didn't want to start anything with Sirius as well as James.

For the next five hours the boys peeled a huge crate of potatoes and were exhausted. They were relieved when McGonagall came back to invite them to the feast and held out their wands. The boys took them back and were walking to the Great Hall when McGonagall broke the silence.

"Your evening still may not be enjoyable for you four. I overheard the Gryffindor table talking and they seem very upset that you four lost 200 points and put Gryffindor out of the running for the House Cup." McGonagall said.

"How did they find out?" James asked angrily.

"Silly me, I have a running mouth sometimes." McGonagall smirked and she walked to the head table.

The boys sat down, Remus and James at opposite ends. Remus sat next to Lilly and attempted to say hello, but she purposefully turned her head. It seemed as if the entire Gryffindor table was giving the marauders nasty looks.

"Goodevening everyone. I am proud of the successful academic year that we achieved even though we've experienced dark times. We stand here today with one seat empty at the Gryffindor table. Katelyn Domer will be missed and her legend will live on. Let's also not forget the one auror who was injured, and the two brave aurors who died protecting our school. We cannot be more grateful to them." Dumbledore announced solemnly. He paused and looked at the seat at the head table where Professor Estrella used to sit. He looked at it, contemplating something. He finally opened his mouth and said

"Also, though some of you may have enjoyed not taking the Astronomy exam this year, we will always miss Professor Estrella. Though he made a huge mistake recently, we shall never forget how he saved an entire class of first years from Frederick Greyback. I thank you."

Remus looked around and saw some people, especially from the Slytherin table, rolling their eyes and mocking Dumbledore.

"But let us not only grieve tonight, for tonight is a celebration. To the 7th years, we thank you for your dedication to your academics and I know each one of you will succeed in whatever path you chose to take. Perhaps some of you may be returning in a few years to work as a professor here. We will now have our graduation ceremony, when your name is called, please rise and accept your diploma." Dumbledore boomed proudly. Professor McGonagall then took the podium and started reading names off of a long scroll.

"Head Boy, Kaydron Baxter." McGonagall said and a boy from Hufflepuff shook hands with Dumbledore and accepted his diploma. The tables cheered.

"Gan Chang." Remus watched as Gan happily stood and received his diploma, completely healed from the last quidditch match. He seemed a lot taller and mature looking too, finally hitting his growth spurt. The entire Gryffindor table erupted in thunderous applause, especially from the quidditch team, and he stood next to Kaydron.

A few more names were called before the Gryffindor prefect/chaser/quidditch captain, Robert Haneb, was called up, also receiving huge applause. And a few people after him, the senior Ravenclaw beater quidditch player, Tessa Lopez, was called.

"We're losing a lot of players this year, plus first years can't even try out next year." Sirius said to the four friends.

"Meh, we'll be fine, Sirius." James said.

The ceremony continued and Remus watched as Head Girl/Slytherin beater, Maddison Springhetti, Hufflepuff prefect, Emma Simon, and countless others receive their diploma. Near the end, Ravenclaw seeker/Gan Chang's girlfriend, Jennifer Wegner, accepted her diploma. Remus saw Gan quickly kiss her when she walked past. Ending with a nerdy Slytherin named "Phillip Yazbac" the ceremony ended.

"Now that the 7th years have officially graduated, let's also congratulate the underclassmen who are graduating into the next year of their schooling." Dumbledore said and lead an applause. "Now let the feast begin." Dumbledore announced jollily. Mountains of food appeared on the table in front of them and everyone dug in. Remus went straight for the mashed potatoes and turkey and filled his starving belly. Sirius, Peter, and him laughed and joked around about the countless pranks they committed throughout the school year. Sirius even got James laughing at one point, though he was still pretty upset with Remus. The boys enjoyed the meal and went to the Gryffindor dorm room to pack their belongings for the train left the next morning. Remus went to bed and recieved a kind goodnight from Peter and Sirius, but silence from James.

The boys said goodbye to the teachers and other students as they left Hogsmeade station. They sat in the same compartment as they came to Hogwarts in just a few months ago, Remus and James sitting across from each other. After the majority of the ride still being ignored by James, Remus finally snapped.

"James would you just talk to me?" Remus pleaded loudly. But James just looked out the window instead.

"I know you think Severus was telling the truth, but he was just trying to get me in more trouble. I went to my Mom's bedside that night and every night before then." Remus lied.

"Come on James, just believe him. Sneverus was pissed at Remus that night, and McGonagall said he was mistaken." Sirius said.

"Okay I will." James said suspiciously.

"You will?" Remus asked relieved.

"On one condition." James added.

"Whatever you need." Remus said.

James pulled out a little device out of his pocket. It was a crystal cube with white smoke floating inside it.

"What's that?" Remus asked.

"This nifty little thing is a lie detector. I bought it from Zonko's. If someone were to lie while holding it, it turns red. But if they tell the truth it turns blue." James said. "Testing. My name is John Potter." James said and the box was filled with red smoke. Remus gulped. "And I want you to say what you say is true while holding it."

Remus turned pink and said "Well, I don't see how that's necessary."

But Sirius squinted his eyes at Remus and said "Mate, you have nothing to hide. Just do it so you and James can stop fighting."

"Yeah Remus." Peter squeaked.

 _It's going to turn red the second I open my mouth._

"No, I-" Remus stuttered.

"Why not, Remus? Afraid it will show you're lying?" James said.

Remus opened his mouth, but noise wouldn't come out. James suddenly took Remus's hand and put it in and said "Exposmise!" while waving his wand. Remus tried to remove the box, but it was stuck.

"GO AHEAD, LUPIN!" James screamed.

"The story of me going to my mom's every month, of her being sick . . ." Remus paused, knowing he was trapped now and sighed ". . . is a lie."

The boys turned their attention to the box's white smoke and it turned a royal blue.

"I knew it. I knew you were a liar." James snarled.

"Remus, how could you? Even after I told you about my dad, you claimed to relate to me." Sirius said while looking to the burns on his arms.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know what to say." Remus said. They boys looked down to the box and it was still a truthful blue.

"So, now that you have that box in your hands, and we can finally see if you are lying again, where do you go every month?" James asked

Remus paused to think. _What do I tell them?_

"Dumbledore told me not to tell anyone." Remus said truthfully, remembering that day Dumbledore delivered his letter. The boys looked to the box and it remained blue.

"What? Dumbledore knows about what you're doing?" James asked.

"Yes." Remus said.

"Who else knows?" Sirius asked suspiciously.

Remus sighed. "My parents, Madame Pomphrey, McGonagall, and Professor Estrella." The box remained blue.

"What? Why Professor Estrella?" James asked.

 _Because he's a fellow werewolf._

"Because he figured it out." Remus said and the box stayed blue.

"What? What did he figure out? What is your secret?" Sirius exploded.

"I can't tell you." Remus said. Finally the box turned blood red.

"No, you can. You just won't." James said. Remus nodded and the box turned blue again. They felt the train squeaking to a stop. They had arrived in King's Cross. James pointed his wand at the box and muttered the counter curse. James lifted the box out of Remus's hand.

"Friends don't keep secrets from friends." James said.

"What does that mean?" Remus asked, holding back his tears.

"It means until we know your secret, we aren't friends anymore." James said coldly, but Remus could tell that it was challenging for him to say.

"Sirius?" Remus asked. He nodded.

"Peter?" Remus asked. Peter hesitated, but nodded.

Remus nodded and stood up and grabbed his luggage and Moonlight.

"Remus, just tell us the truth!" Peter said.

Remus thought for a second and picked up the lie detector cube laying next to James and said. "I fear that you will hate me more if I tell you the truth." and it shined bright fluorescent blue. Remus set it down and said "Goodbye." and left the compartment and the Marauder's friendship.

End of Year 1

 _Author's notes:_

 _7th of August, 2016_

 _Hiya! I'm Christylee7663. If you are reading this message right now that means you've read over 50,000 words in these 40 chapters. Good for you! I just want to say thanks so much for reading, and I am sorry for torturing poor Remus with so many conflicts. Also, I know everything wasn't accurate from the books, but I took some liberties anyway for fun. If you want more, I am writing Year 2 right now. I just posted chapter 5 and something huge happens, so maybe check it out here:_ _story/story_ ?storyid=12085254 &chapter=1_

 _Thanks for reading, fellow Remus Lupin nerds._


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